The Path Forward
Grover quickly pulled himself together as his friends helped him up, and for a moment he looked confused before his face lit up with pure relief.
"Percy, Harry, Annabeth," he said, clearly happy, as he pulled the three of them into a big hug… or more like a goat hug.
After all, when they got separated while traveling through the Floo Network, Grover had no idea what had happened to them, and he had been genuinely worried. Though his own situation hadn't exactly given him much time to think about it. Still, seeing them safe was a huge relief, especially Percy. And now it was clear he was completely fine.
"I seriously have a lot to tell you… everything that happened in just a day and a half," Grover said right away. "Oh, right… Remus," he added, turning slightly as he looked back in the direction he had come from, his expression shifting with a hint of concern.
Hearing that name, Harry glanced at him for a moment, a faintly confused look crossing his face, as if it sounded familiar somehow.
"A day and a half?!" Annabeth suddenly shouted, startling the three of them. "We're a day and a half behind! We need to move, now. If we don't keep going, we won't make it in time for the summer solstice. We have to go. You can tell your story on the way," she added immediately, already pushing them forward.
The three of them didn't have much choice but to follow Annabeth. If they didn't hurry, the end of the world could quite literally catch up to them at any moment.
As they moved, Grover started telling the story of his short adventure—his escape and the rescue he went through alongside an adult wizard named Remus. And every time he mentioned him, Harry—who was focused on the map in his hands—would lift his head slightly.
That name felt familiar… like he had heard it before, but he couldn't quite place it. Harry frowned slightly. That name… It wasn't just familiar. It felt important.
But this wasn't the time.
He forced the thought aside and looked back at the map.
"Wow… and here I thought you just got lost in the streets," Percy said, sounding mildly impressed.
"Of course I didn't get lost. This isn't my first time leaving the camp. And my dream is to become a searcher. What kind of searcher would I be if I got lost that easily?" Grover shot back, suddenly serious.
"Ah… yeah, okay. Sorry," Percy muttered, noticing the look on his friend's face.
"It's a shame I couldn't say goodbye to Remus and the others… but I'm sure they'll be fine," Grover added with a small sigh.
"Harry, did you find a good route?" Annabeth asked, having already finished listening to Grover's story. It really did sound like he'd gone through something dangerous… but right now, they were in the middle of something just as risky. Maybe even worse.
"Yeah," Harry said, stopping and holding the map out so the others could see. They all leaned in around him.
"We're still in St. Louis, and the nearest fireplace is right here," he said, pointing at a small drawing of a chimney glowing faintly in blue. Around it, there were others—like the one at the Arch Gateway—but that one now appeared inactive. According to the vendor, when a fireplace is forcibly disconnected, many others across the country end up like that. And you could see it happening in real time—some lighting up, others going dark.
"I mapped out the fastest and most direct route. At most, we'll reach our destination in a day. Three, maybe four fireplace jumps," Harry added, a hint of pride slipping into his voice.
"Just one day… nice," the three of them said almost at the same time.
"But…" Harry hesitated, pointing at one of the fireplaces he had marked. "This next one sends us to Kansas. From there, we go to Lamar, then to Denver. The problem is here," he said, indicating a fireplace that flickered on and off. "This one connects directly to Las Vegas, which would cut out a huge portion of the trip… and from there we go straight to Santa Monica. It would save us a lot of time. But for some reason it keeps flickering, and I don't know if it'll work properly. If we take a different route, though, it'll be at least five more jumps… and around three to five days," Harry finished, looking at the others, waiting for their decision.
"If we go to Denver and that one doesn't work… where's the next connection to Las Vegas?" Annabeth asked, already following his logic.
Harry glanced back down at the map.
"The next closest one is… in Albuquerque. By bus, that's about ten more hours. And the fireplace there would take us to Phoenix, where we'd need to take another bus to Las Vegas. We'd be losing almost eight hours. Although if we go straight from Phoenix to Los Angeles, it'd take around ten, but we'd gain two hours back. Adding in the time spent finding the fireplaces… it'd take us almost two full days," Harry explained calmly so they could follow everything properly.
Percy blinked. "…You lost me halfway through that."
Harry glanced at him for a moment before continuing, completely ignoring him.
"Two hours might not sound like much, but we'd still have to figure out where exactly our destination is, and every minute counts. Even so, thanks to Harry's route, the week we have left to reach Los Angeles is more than enough… but it's still better to save as much time as possible in case something goes wrong."
Percy made a face… clearly, he wasn't a fan of numbers.
"I see… so we get there in one day, and at most two if the first route doesn't work. I don't think that's too bad, since it'd take way longer if we just traveled by bus or train," Annabeth said with a nod before glancing at Grover and Percy to see if they had any better ideas.
Percy stayed silent for a moment… clearly, he hadn't understood half of it.
"So, looks like we're going to Denver," Percy said without much hesitation, trusting his brother—and Annabeth—completely. Grover didn't seem to have much of a problem with it either… except for the part about using another fireplace after the last one had failed so badly.
Harry smiled faintly at his brother's confidence and simply led the group in the direction of the fireplace they were going to use.
Finding the place with the map wasn't difficult at all. It was just an old house, nothing particularly noticeable, sitting in a quiet neighborhood. Even without drawing attention, the Muggle-repelling charms seemed to be doing their job properly, since no one even looked in the direction of the house.
The group stepped inside carefully, where a man stood behind a counter, his expression serious—almost like a security guard.
The moment he saw them, he frowned, clearly recognizing them as strangers, and his posture stiffened slightly.
"Who are you? This place isn't open to just anyone," the man said immediately.
"Uh, well… we'd like to use the Floo connector," Percy replied without hesitation.
The man frowned slightly.
"Wands?" he asked at once, as if wanting proof that all four of them were actually wizards.
Harry, Grover, and Percy quickly pulled out their wands, which visibly eased the man's expression… but now his gaze shifted to Annabeth, who obviously didn't have one.
"Oh, well, she… just turned eleven, so she hasn't gotten hers yet. But she already received her acceptance letter to—"
"Ilvermorny," Harry added from behind him.
"Right," Percy said with a grin.
The man raised an eyebrow, studying Annabeth carefully, trying to decide whether that was true or not. But of course, there wasn't much he could confirm.
"Fine. Follow me," he said, turning around and opening a door in the back.
As soon as it opened, they could see a perfectly normal fireplace… well, slightly larger than usual.
"Inside," the man said with the same serious expression as he grabbed a bowl of powder from the side and scooped some into a small cup.
The four of them stepped into the fireplace, a bit cramped.
The man approached with the cup full of Floo powder.
"Keep your arms and legs inside the fireplace at all times. Some people feel a bit dizzy during the trip, so it's best to close your eyes until you reach the other side. The flashes can be unpleasant. Safe travels," he said before tossing the powder straight at their feet.
A burst of green flames swallowed them instantly.
Almost immediately, their bodies appeared in another fireplace, as if they had simply blinked, making it clear the trip was even faster than usual through the Floo Network. Probably because it only connects two points, Harry thought.
He turned to check on the others and saw that everyone was completely fine.
Well… except for Grover, who was practically clinging to Percy, still with his eyes tightly shut.
"We're here, Grover," Percy said, trying to peel him off, while Grover slowly opened one eye to make sure he hadn't gotten lost again, letting out a relieved breath.
"Alright, let's move to the next one.We're past the hard part…" Harry said.
Then he paused.
"…I think."
But the moment he said it, he immediately realized that might have been a stupid thing to say.
And judging by Percy's expression… he was thinking the exact same thing.
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