Mortie Wimsey, Blaise Zabini and the Lady from the Sapphire

Mortie Wimsey and his best friend Blaise Zabini were taking a stroll around the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, looking for something interesting, or for trouble, as some of their teachers would say. Mortie was twelve years old, lean and short for his age, with large gray eyes, straw-colored hair and a long nose on his long lean face. Blaise Zabini was also short for his age, but as he was sixteen, he was taller than Mortie. He was also thin, but his eyes were black, and his hair likewise black and curly. He had olive-colored skin. They both wore black robes of the students of Hogwarts. As they walked, they talked of magical creatures, potions, Quidditch, books they read and of their pets. So they wandered far from their school and found themselves in some wilderness. Eventually they saw a rock with a cave, a few rowans near its entrance, and they also saw a bright blue light emerging from the cave.

'Hey Blaise, what is it?' Mortie said.

'Dunno,' Blaise said. 'Let's take a closer look.'

They approached the entrance of the cave and peered inside. There was a huge white snake with wings. The source of the light was behind it. Blaise said:

'Oh, it's a siren snake. They run faster than horses and also can fly. Their venom is so strong that one dies before one can feel the pain from their bite. But they are native to Arabia. What does this one do here?'

'And what is behind it, the thing that gives such a bright blue light?' Mortie said. 'Let's have a look.'

'Right,' Blaise said. 'I will distract it by talking...'

'And I will cast the Full Body-Bind on it,' Mortie said.

'That'll do the trick,' Blaise said. Mortie took his wand at the ready, and Blaise called in Parseltongue:

'Hey beauty, one word with you!'

The snake turned her head to look who was talking. Mortie instantly pointed his wand at her and said: 'Petrificus Tolalus!' The snake froze, immobilized. Mortie and Blaise entered the dark cave and passed the stunned snake. The thing behind the snake, that was giving that blue light, was an enormous sapphire that had to be several hundreds carats. Blaise and Mortie stood in wonder. Suddenly a female voice sounded from inside the stone:

'Kind young wizards, please let me out!'

'How? And who are you?' Blaise asked.

'Turn the stone around. There is the Solomon's Seal engraved on it, so I cannot get out. I'm a jinniyah.'

'Jinniyah? A female jinni?' Mortie exclaimed.

'Yes. A wizard imprisoned me in this stone,' the voice said.

Mortie stared but turned the stone. A young woman with black curly hair, large shining black eyes, olive-gold skin, full breasts, slim waist and broad hips, in pink muslin chalvar and white silken jacket embroidered with gold flowers and pearls appeared before them. She smiled a dazzling smile and said:

'Thank you, kind young wizards. I am Zinat, the Princess of the Banu Maljid Jan. And who are you?'

'Mortimer Wimsey, the Viscount Saint George,' Mortie said.

'Blaise Zabini, esquire,' Blaise said.

'How you came to be in this wild place?' Princess Zinat asked.

'Our school is near here,' Mortie answered.

'There wasn't any school in here when I was imprisoned in this stone,' Princess Zinat said.

'What year was it when you were imprisoned?' Blaise asked.

The year of Hijra 381,' Princess Zinat said.

'Now is the year of Hijra 1416,' Mortie said.

'What! I was in this stone more than a thousand years?' Princess Zinat exclaimed in bewilderment.

'I fear so,' Mortie said. 'Our school was founded a thousand years ago. It is the oldest school of magic.'

'In Europe,' Blaise said. 'There is the House of Wisdom, Bayt al-Hikmah, in Damascus. It was founded a century earlier than Hogwarts.'

'Oh yes, it was around in my time,' Princess Zinat said. 'The man who put me in this stone learned magic in there. He turned Dark, curse on his name, Gamal Ibn Faris!'

'He was from Egypt, judging by his name?' Mortie asked.

'Yes, he was an Egyptian, the son of a jackal!' Princess Zinat said. 'I refused to succumb to his advances, and he put me in this stone, carried me to this deserted place AND put a siren snake to guard me!'

'Well, this place is not deserted anymore,' Blaise smiled. 'What your Gamal Ibn Faris didn't foresee, is that two wizards and two witches will found in there a school for wizards and witches age eleven to seventeen, many of them inquisitive, and some VERY inquisitive and talented.'

'And yet it was a sheer luck that a Parselmouth and an Enchanter came to this cave together,' Mortie said.

'It was,' Blaise said. 'No one could do that alone.'

'But together you did it,' Princess Zinat said. 'And I am very thankful to you. What can I do for you?'

'No, thank you, we don't need anything right now,' Mortie said. 'We know all about one wish but I think we'll use it later. Return to your home, your enemy is long gone by now.'

'Exactly,' Blaise said. Princess Zinat said:

'Well, I shall remember your names. Call me when you will need me. I'll go now to my Banu Maljid. Salaam!'

'Salaam!' the two young wizards said. Princess Zinat disappeared. Mortie and Blaise looked on the snake and left quickly, taking the sapphire with them.

'Well, that was one adventure!' Mortie said to Blaise. Blaise nodded.