Python Hex values in ascii encoded string

Question

I have a problem in python reading a string from a .txt file
File contains these data : \\xce\\x97
Encoded in ascii (Similar to "\\xce\\x97" using a python string) I want to convert it to UTF-8 encoding

file.open("file.txt", "r")
a = file.read() #a = "\\xce\\x97"
file.close()

The correct value of this string is : "Η" (Its a greek letter, capital "η") Ι can use

>>>a = b'\xce\x97'
>>>print(a.decode("utf-8"))
>>>Η

How can I do it using the varriable a?

Answer 1

For decoding problems:

a = "\\xce\\x97"
print(a.encode().decode('unicode-escape').encode("latin-1").decode('utf-8'))

'Η'