Andrew Sophocles, former Great Priest of the Olympus Divine Hall, Minister of Magic of the Greek Ministry of Magic, and son of Arsen Socrates, Chairman of the Eastern European Magic Committee, today, December 22, 1993, is the first day he takes over his father's position and officially assumes office.
Then, after fasting, praying, bathing, changing clothes, and receiving the scepter symbolizing divine authority from his father's hands, he discovered... the gate of his family's divine hall had been pried open.
?
Really? Couldn't it have happened just a day later?
Although the Socrates Clan holds the hereditary position of Divine Servant, as faith gradually fades, divine authority has already become a mere tool for mortals to vie for power. Andrew knows well that his smooth ascension to this position has nothing to do with his strength or knowledge, but only because he swam faster than his other "siblings" at birth.
After all, numerous signs suggest that those once depicted in various myths as gods might have been nothing more than powerful wizards.
Back then, not to mention magic wands, even the system of spells was not perfected, and most people with wizard blood either lived their life as Muggles or, due to certain events, degenerated into the legendary demons (Obscurus).
Thus, it was rather natural that those wizards with extraordinary talent possessed the ability to summon wind and rain, and naturally, they became the gods revered by the world.
This is a common understanding among most researchers in the Magic Realm.
So, compared to devout mortals, wizards hold significantly less reverence for gods.
Of course, the power of these divine servants originated from divine authority. Although centuries of painstaking efforts have deeply rooted their family in the Ministry of Magic, as divine servants, any disrespect towards gods on the surface is unacceptable, not to mention their own gods' divine hall getting broken into...
Does this make sense? They've clearly hidden the entrance of the divine hall so well.
Well, rather than a divine hall, it's more like the Socrates Clan's treasure vault.
So, after hastily finishing the succession ceremony, Andrew promptly led the Ministry of Magic's Aurors to Mount Olympus.
The place is still some distance away from Athens, so the Greek Ministry of Magic always keeps portkeys on hand for travels between the two locations. After a "soul-stirring" transit, they endured the dizziness and rushed up to the peak of Mitikas, finally falling into bewilderment upon reaching the summit.
Where's the Divine Stone? Where did that huge Divine Stone that was here before go?
Staring at the pitted rocky ground before him, Andrew fell into deep thought.
"Minister?"
On the other side, because it was also the day of the succession, the Head of the Auror Office, Nothus, also dressed in a white robe, turned to look at the pondering Andrew and softly inquired.
"... Let's go up and have a look."
Andrew paused for a moment, then decisively shielded the Aurors as he led them up the pristine step.
No matter how many times they had experienced it, the abrupt gravitational shift still left them somewhat unadapted. Andrew rubbed his temple, trying not to look at the cerulean void flanking the stairs as they advanced cautiously, sighting the slightly ajar gate of the divine hall.
"What's that noise inside?"
Leaning against the doorframe, an Auror group peered inside the divine hall like thieves, while Andrew pressed down the head of the person in front and craned his neck forward to look.
"What are those?"
Gazing at the multitude of color-varied "caterpillars" clinging to the god statues, a surge of anger welled up within Andrew. Of course, no one knew whether this anger was directed at the blasphemous objects or due to his own property being violated—
In any case, disregarding his subordinates' interference, Andrew pushed open the door and stepped into the divine hall. Watching the diligent black lumps, he raised his magic wand forcefully, "Accio!"
The next second, the brown Niffler clinging to the pectoral muscles of the Art Goddess—Muse flew up, arcing through the air into Andrew's hand.
"What are you creatures?!"
Shocked and enraged, Andrew certainly recognized the struggling little fellow as a Niffler, but at this moment, the question mainly accentuated the man's inner irritation. He vigorously shook the Niffler's legs, and colorful gems rolled out from its pouch onto the floor.
"...They're stealing the gems?"
Snatching up the fallen gems and ivory from the ground, and seeing the vast swathes of bare god statues around, Andrew only felt blood rushing to his head, "Where the hell did these bastards come from?" "Minister, just now that entrance... couldn't have been dug by a Niffler."
Nothus immediately pointed out, as the group glanced around before waving their wands, making the Nifflers detach from the statues and held in their arms, the innumerable gems nearly forming a small mountain on the ground.
Damn, that's a lot of money...
Gazing at those dazzlingly colorful gems, every Auror except Nothus couldn't help but swallow. They knew the Socrates Clan was wealthy, but had never imagined their wealth to be this exaggerated—the divine hall was, after all, their private property, inviolably sacred.
"Search—The owner of these Nifflers must still be inside!"
Seeing the more intact statues further inside, Andrew stuffed the Niffler in his hand into a pocket, clutching his magic wand warily, and once more shielding the Aurors in front of himself.
Then, they formed a formation and began cautiously advancing toward the interior of the divine hall, occasionally capturing stray Nifflers along the way, until finally spotting the statue of Zeus located at the innermost end of the divine hall. Looking at the still majestic and perfectly intact statue, the Aurors couldn't help but furrow their brows deeply.