Order of the Sphinx... Why should HP get to have all the fun?

Chapter 32: First Mission

Disclaimer: I'm not J.K Rowling.

I'm just a poor university student swamped with assignments.

Yay me.

A/N: Sorry this took me a while, but when you see how long this chapter is, you may just figure out why this one was a while in the making. 16 word document pages, size 11 font with adjusted margins.... yum! Hope you enjoy long chapters.

Chapter 32: First Mission

The cold breeze blew into Godrick’s Hollow with a bite of winter wind which appeared to have the intent to freeze us all before our journey had even begun. The nerves hadn’t fully kicked in until the portkey deactivated; compiling on the acidic taste in the back of my throat which made the “iron stomach” contemplate mutiny. But I think it was sheer stubbornness and the determined streak of adrenaline which left me feeling light headed, that prevented the vomit.

My friends weren’t faring as well.

“Oh God that was terrible!” Colin moaned, his face a rather alarming shade of green. I took a large, cautious step back from his heaving figure. “Such a pussy.” Ivy muttered to herself, shoving her hands further into the pockets of her coat.

The sun was setting, but there was enough dusk light which painted the quaint town that no other light was needed for the time being. Give it another 15 minutes or so and it would have been a different story. It was almost as if nature was presenting the perfect backdrop for our adventure; prophectic falesy at it’s finest. I didn’t wish to dwell on the metaphor for too long, lest it give me cold feet, so I studiously began to study the yellowed parchment in my hands.

The map wasn’t exactly conventional; it had taken me a few hours to figure out that it wasn’t so much an image, but written clues which guided us in swirled lines towards our intended goal. It created a word like picture of our final destination. Crude, but mind bogglingly exciting.

It would have been so easy to forget what it was we were actually doing there; the great seriousness lost to the still childish desire for adventure. But the sobering fact that we may have been followed seemed to do it for me.

“Okay.” I sighed, looking up from the map to get my bearings. “Let’s try to remain as inconspicuous as possible.” I said to the group. Jen snorted dryly. I rolled my eyes. “Yeah I know, lost cause. Let’s at least try though.” I conceded. They all nodded and I internally scolded myself at how much of a no-brainer that was.

The church was on a right diagonal from where I was standing and I used this knowledge to try and decode the first cryptic clue. The clues themselves were completely ambiguous, and could have meant a thousand different things. I ran through the line in my head again.

To seek the invisible one first must start, looking at matters purely from the heart.

I frowned and looked around. Matters of the heart? Surely that had to be metaphorical right? Nothing was jumping out as anything special. I sighed and ran my hands through my hair. My eyes scanned the street. Matters of the heart? Well did that mean love, kindness or nobility or any of the other good things that philosophers always spouted about? It was impossible to know.

“What’s the first clue?” Asked Jen, looking over my shoulder to squint at the swirled writing. “To see the invisible one first must start, looking at matters purely from the heart.” I said out loud. Ivy frowned and began pacing to try and figure it out. Will closed his eyes and tilted his head back, losing himself in thought. Colin chewed on his bottom lip as he tried to figure it out as well.