"So? Why am I here?" Rowena asked, looking at the master and disciple pair.

  "Well, Hermione wondered if we could learn and mimic this ritual, and I thought who better than you to help decipher it?" Morgana said with a chipper tone.

  "Aren't you supposed to be all-knowing or something? Why would you need to analyze the ritual again? Besides, Salazar is more of an expert on bloodline-related rituals like these."

  "Ugh, don't talk about that guy, all he knows how to do is ruin anything fun. Besides, I prefer your company. And I'm not all-knowing—I just made a point of observing all types of magical progress and discovery as they happened, but even I couldn't be everywhere or know where to go. Unlike you, I'm not a diviner. Besides, didn't you hear me say it's a once-in-ten-millennia ritual? Even I'm not that old." Morgana seemed indignant at the subtle jab at her age, but both other women knew it was a facade. If anything, she was proud of it, as it was also an indication of power in her time.

  There were many times she had complained about her past, in which many didn't take her seriously due to her young age—even if she was as strong or stronger than them.

  Hermione, knowing her mentor would start flirting with Rowena again if left to her own devices, decided to take control of the conversation.

  "Today, they paid full price for nearly 170 thousand Galleons' worth of magically untreated gold, so we think they're close enough to completing their ritual to be desperate for any additional amount, and we're going to infiltrate in about an hour."

  "Huh, those bastards actually paid for something completely? I guess I can see why you're in a hurry." Rowena was more surprised than Hermione herself had been when she heard the same thing from Morgana.

  Rowena was much more knowledgeable about goblins, so she knew for them, not scamming people is like a house-elf disrespecting their master.

  "Is it gonna be just the three of us? I'm sure Godric would enjoy this too," Rowena asked.

  "Agh, you of all people should know, Rowena—Godric wouldn't know subtlety if you whack him upside the head with it," Morgana answered. "And we need to be subtle, even if these guys are technically rebels, if we get found, it could be an inter-species problem."

  "Ok, ok, you don't have to yell," Rowena said, raising her hands in surrender. "I had plans for tonight, but I do owe you still, so I can come if you want me to."

  "No." Morgana rebuked suddenly.

  "What?" / "What?" Hermione and Rowena asked simultaneously, surprised.

  "Master, didn't you want Professor Ravenclaw to come? What's with the change of heart?"

  Morgana ignored Hermione's question, staring right into Rowena's eyes. "I still want you to come, but not as a favor to me. I told you that day, and I've told you since: You. Don't. Owe. Me. Anything. Got it?"

  "Morgana, for you it might have been something easy, but to me... You helped put my daughter's soul to rest after nearly a thousand years. I do owe you, no matter what you say," Rowena said, staring right back without backing down.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  "I also helped all the other ones," Morgana muttered, though both other women heard her regardless. "Fine, you do owe me, but I don't want to use my favor here. You'll come because you want to."

  Rowena raised one of her eyebrows, clearly waiting for an explanation.

  "Think about it—what would happen if you learned how the ritual works? What if you could adjust it to work more regularly? You could make the ultimate alchemical item, then improve it with the ritual, even a little bit, then study the improvements to make a better item next time."

  "Ugh, fine, I'll come," Rowena said, finally surrendering. "You're insufferable, you know that?" she asked, turning her face away from Morgana.

  "Well, I try," Morgana answered with a smirk.

  __________________________________

  Nearing two in the morning, the three walked to the bank, each wearing their own invisibility cloaks.

  "Why are we here?" Hermione asked. "I thought you said they weren't conducting the ritual in their underground tunnels."

  "They aren't," Morgana answered. "But there's a Gate here that leads to that place."

  "A Gate!?"

  "What's a Gate?" Hermione asked over a surprised Rowena, who already knew what it was.

  "Right, you didn't know. Well, this is actually one of the more apparent changes that came with the sealing and later unsealing of so many ley-line nodes." Morgana started explaining as she, with Rowena's support, easily got the three of them past the wards like they didn't exist.

  "In my time they weren't prevalent, as the materials and the expertise needed to make them were enormous, but they still existed. They're like wormholes you might see in Muggle movies. They seamlessly connect two finite two-dimensional sections of space. The constant sealing of different nodes through the years made it so that opening them became impossible, though. I actually took a walk through various branches of Gringotts, including the London branch, when I was a ghost, but at the time the Gate was closed, so I couldn't visit the other side. I don't even know where it would lead, which is why we can't just there."

  "So you meant it? There's actually a Gate here?" Rowena asked excitedly.

  "Hmm? Oh right, you never saw one in person, right? I bet, you're happy you came with us now, aren't you?"

  Before she could answer, Hermione shushed both of them as a pair of goblins passed ahead of them and walked into a section of the wall, phasing through it like it wasn't there—similar to the same phenomenon Hermione had seen through her years attending Hogwarts.

  "Well, let's follow them. That's the entrance to the hidden tunnels that reach the Gate." Morgana took the lead. Though they were invisible, the cloaks were connected in a way that let their wearer see the others as a blurry white figure, courtesy of Rowena's last-minute modifications, making it so that the three could detect the others' position.

  They followed the goblin pair through a winding path with natural cave walls and only a smoothed ground, making it seem like the goblins had used naturally existing cave systems.

  There were many branching pathways, and eventually they parted ways with their unknowing guides at Morgana's signal.

  "From here it's not much further—two more bends and... aha," Morgana exclaimed. "Here we are."

  In front of the three stood a ten-meter-tall, two-meter-wide arch carved into the stone of the underground tunnels. It was a dark blue color—or perhaps it only looked that way because of the blue glowing portal inside it, shining with a blinding blue light compared to the almost complete darkness of the underground.

  "What's with the blue stuff? Shouldn't we be able to see through the Gate?" Rowena asked as she excitedly walked around the stone structure, taking the thing in from all angles.

  "They must have warded it. Let me check." Morgana walked to the portal and plunged her arm into it up to her shoulder as Hermione let out a shocked yelp at the sight.

  "Nope, nothing dangerous. I can't even feel any wards. The blue stuff is probably a visual disruptor. Let's go—we don't have much time."

  With Morgana's reassurance, the three stood side by side, and locking their hands with each other, they stepped through.

  To Hermione and Rowena's surprise, unlike or , there was no uncomfortable feeling. Actually, there was no feeling—it was like stepping through a door to the next room. But when Morgana's eyes adjusted from the blinding film of light, there was only one thing she could say.

  "Fuck."