A New Ghost

Chapter 2 - Walk Like an Egyption

A ray of sunlight crept through the curtain of a small room, illuminating its contents with a slight orange glow. A curled up body lay motionless; hugging a rumpled bedspread with a cannon emblazoned upon its center. From somewhere above the clanging of a heavy chain could be heard growing louder and nearer with each motion. The occupant of the bed stirred and stretched his long legs, which now hung over the footboard by nearly three inches.

"Bugger," murmured Ron Weasley as he swung his legs to the floor, "they've done it again."

Fred and George had taken to sneaking into Ron's room and placing a Reducio charm on his bed while he slept. The first time they had done it Ron thought he had grown overnight. Now they just did it because they knew how much it annoyed him.

Today however, Ron wasn't going to be annoyed by them or anyone for that matter. Today was the day he was traveling to Egypt with Bill. He opened the curtain, which allowed the sunlight to pierce through and fall upon the Chudley Cannons poster on the wall. Ron got dressed and followed the smell of bacon down the narrow staircase that led to the small but functional kitchen of the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley was already up and preparing a hearty breakfast consisting of bacon, fried eggs, and buttered toast with raspberry jam.

"Oh Ron, I was just about to wake you. Have you packed your bags yet? I just don't know how I let Bill talk me into letting you go to Egypt with everything that is going on these days," she said in such a rapid succession that Ron thought she must have stopped breathing.

"The ghoul woke me. Yes. Bill has always been able to get you to agree to anything, mum," Ron retorted.

Mrs. Weasley glared at him, opened her mouth and then shut it. Ron smiled triumphantly as he put the kettle on for tea.

"Egypt is probably safer than here." He gulped and continued in almost a whisper: "With You-Know-Who back and all."

They were interrupted by what sounded like a stampede coming from the hall.

"Give it back, George!" squealed Ginny. What followed was a blur; one of the twins flew past with Ginny trailing close behind, knocking Ron's teacup into the air. Ron quickly grasped for it and the handle caught his index finger. Coming from nowhere, Fred tripped into the kitchen and crashed into Ron - the teacup toppled towards the floor.

"Impedimentia Totalus!" howled Mrs. Weasley. She surveyed her frozen children. The teacup stopped in mid-air only inches from the floor. George and Ginny both clutched a single piece of parchment that seemed to be the focus of all the trouble. Ginny's long hair froze in a horizontal flow behind her. Fred was in a dive heading to the floor next to Ron who was standing on one foot while his hands were raised in the air. Mrs. Weasley walked over to Ginny and George and slid the parchment out of their grip, [and] then grabbed the teacup. "I should just leave you all this way for a time," she chuckled. "Finite Incantatum," she said, with a little less enthusiasm.

"That was a bit extreme don't you think?" exclaimed George just after Fred landed on the floor.

With her steely gaze alone, Mrs.Weasley commanded great power among her children. "I don't care about who started it, or why, you are all too old to be behaving this way." She looked at the twins and continued, "you two will be taking your NEWTS this year, and mark my words, there will be NO JOKESHOP if you don't pass. And I don't care how many silent investors you've got!" She switched her glare, softened slightly, to Ginny. "And you, young lady," she handed Ginny the parchment, "you shouldn't leave your letters lying about if you don't want anyone to read them."

"That's all she gets?" exclaimed Fred.

"It's because she's a girl, and it's not fair," agreed George.

"What's not fair about it?" replied Ginny. "I have been surrounded by entirely too much testosterone my entire live, coupled with the fact that I am the youngest and always a target for everyone -- what's fair about that?"

"Ginny deserves her privacy as much as any of you do." Mrs. Weasley interjected.

Ron, having not had any part in this incident and seeing no immediate end to it, slipped quietly up the stairs to gather his things, leaving his siblings to their mother. But not before he grabbed some bacon and two slices of buttered toast.

* * *

The trip to Egypt went smoothly, despite its tiresome length. After saying their good-byes to the rest of the Weasley's at the Burrow, Bill and Ron used a Portkey in the form of a hubcap to transport to Athens. There, after paying the twenty-Galleon fare to Egypt, they boarded a magical ship that took them to Cairo.

Having changed into lightweight robes that seemed common even to Muggles in Egypt, they stopped at a café for a bite to eat before continuing their journey. "What are these called again?" asked Ron, as they munched on a crispy pastry filled with spicy meat.

"Ru'a'bil-l-lahma," replied Bill. "The food here does take some getting used to, I missed mum's cooking terribly when I first moved."

"Why aren't you still living in Alexandria?" questioned Ron, taking another bite of pastry.

"I am on special assignment with a team working in the Dakhla Oasis. One Muggle archaeologist group discovered considerable information about the transition between the Roman and Byzantine periods. Papyrus recovered from private dwellings at Kellis indicate that during the "Christian period" there was actually a diversity of religious convictions in the oasis, including paganism, popular magic, Christianity and Gnosticism. So they called our group in to help with any potential curses that need to be broken. It's all quite exciting really," Bill explained enthusiastically, reminding Ron of Hermione.

"You still have a bit of Head Boy in you, don't you Bill?" Ron snickered.

Ignoring the head boy comment, Bill continued. "Magic has been intermingled with Muggles in their society for over four thousand years. Many of the scribes were in actuality wizards. Their main responsibility in this particular community was to organize, check, and record the progress of the work on the tombs of the Valley of the Kings. They were honored and given free reign which enabled them to place the appropriate curses on the tombs when necessary."

"So you work closely with Muggles?"

"Yes. Many people here are much more tolerant about magic. But it's still not commonly talked about."

"Kind of like Fudge not admitting that You-Know-Who is back, isn't it?" replied Ron.

"You still can't say his name Ron?" wondered Bill. "After everything you, Harry and Hermione have been through, I would think you wouldn't be afraid of saying it."

"Harry's been through more than any of us," said Ron solemnly. "I'll bet he feels awful about Cedric, and Fudge won't discourage the Daily Prophet from printing bogus stories about the entire thing." He glanced at a fly that had just landed on the edge of a table. "At least Rita Skeeter won't be writing them."

"Why is that?

"Well," Ron hesitated, "she had been writing such awful things about everyone -- because that git Malfoy was telling all sorts of lies to her...."

"Yeah, I read some of her articles," said Bill.

"Anyway, she's an animagus -- a beetle specifically, and Hermione trapped her at the end of term. She's really brilliant, you know."

"Rita Skeeter?" asked Bill knowingly.

"No, Hermione, She's the smartest person I know. I wouldn't be surprised if she's made a Prefect next year."

"Is she really dating Victor Krum?" Bill egged Ron on.

"Do you believe she went to the Yule Ball with him?" spat Ron in disgust. "He also invited her to visit him in Bulgaria this summer. I think he's using her to get closer to Harry. I just don't trust him."

Bill suspected there was more to it than that. "Maybe he really likes her, she isn't bad looking."

"I suppose, I'd never really thought about it before now," replied Ron as his face turned a shade of pink that clashed with his red hair.

"We should get going," said Bill, as he waved for the check.

As they neared Dakhla, Ron could see why it was considered one of Egypt's most beautiful oases. The oasis sat in a depression surrounded by pink cliffs. It's 30,000 acres of cultivated land were surrounded by fields and gardens filled mostly with mulberry trees, date palms, figs and other citrus fruits. Mut, its capital, was full of old mud-brick houses, surrounded by winding streets. Within the remains of the old town was an ancient citadel: a labyrinth of mud-walled alleys narrowly separating houses, many with elaborately-carved wooden lintels, that clung to the slopes of the hill.

"My flat is near a medieval Islamic cemetery on the outskirts of the village," Bill told Ron as they walked through the old town.

They headed down a narrow passage turned left and climbed up a even narrower staircase that led to a large wooden door that was cracked open slightly. Bill stopped in his tracks, as if alarmed. "Stay here Ron," he whispered as he pulled his wand out of his pocket and gently pushed the door open.

What Bill saw was a room in complete disarray. Drawers had been gone through, pillows were thrown on the floor with the feathers ripped out of them. A nightstand and lamp were knocked over and Bill's clothes were strewn across the floor. A tawny owl sat on a perch near the open window. Bill checked the bathroom and bedroom then let Ron know it was safe to come in.

"Well at least Sheeba seems fine, she must have flown out when she heard the commotion." Bill walked over to the owl and patted her on the head.

"Do you think it was robbers?" asked Ron as he surveyed the ransacked room. "What could they have been looking for?"

"I'm not sure," replied Bill. He whipped his wand around in the air and the clothes began folding and putting themselves into their proper locations. "We have recovered many priceless artifacts from the oasis, maybe someone thought I kept some."

"Did you? How valuable are these things?" asked Ron.

The older wizard waved his wand around and directed things back into their proper places. "Some of the artifacts are very valuable. Money does strange things to people," answered Bill.

"I wouldn't mind being strange for a few more Galleons," said Ron.

"Be careful what you wish for Ron, money and power don't solve all your problems. They can create many more new ones," warned Bill.

Ron looked at him doubtfully. It had been a long day and they were both tired, so after a plate of cold chicken and potato and lemon salad, they each took one of the beds in the small bedroom and quickly drifted to sleep.

* * *

An owl tapped on the second floor window of number four Privet Drive. The boy wizard who lived there rose from his desk where he was writing a letter and quickly opened the window to let it in. It dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet onto the bed and perched itself on the ledge of the window while Harry removed a cracker from Hedwig's jar and handed it to the tawny bird. It bowed its head, flew out the window, and up into the air.

Harry unrolled the newspaper and read a note attached to the first page:

Dear Harry,

I thought you should see this right away. I am very worried about Ron. I am going to be going to the Burrow tomorrow. Please write back as soon as you can.

Hermione

Harry's stomach immediately churned as he realized the face in the photo was Ron's, he continued to read the headline:

MINISTRY OFFICIAL'S FAMILY ATTACKED

Egypt - The son of Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, is recovering from an attack that took place outside of the Dakhla Oasis near Mut. Ronald Weasley, on holiday visiting his brother Bill, was taken to a nearby Muggle medical facility and treated for a broken arm and minor cuts and bruises.

"There were three of them that came out of nowhere," recalled Weasley's elder brother. "We didn't see their faces because they were covered by hooded robes and they attacked from behind. I had just pulled my wand out and performed a stunning spell on one; Ron was struggling with the other two. When they saw their partner they took off running."

Authorities speculate that robbery was the motivation for the attack, since there appears to be no connection with the magical community. Bill Weasley, who is employed by Gringotts as a curse-breaker, is on assignment at the Oasis. Readers may remember the younger Weasley from earlier this year, when he was rescued by Harry Potter during the second task at the tri-wizard tournament.

Arthur Weasley could not be reached for comment.

Harry sighed as he folded up the newspaper. Something about the story didn't make sense to him. Why would anyone attack Bill and Ron? They were not from a wealthy family. He really didn't know about Bill's financial status, although he was paying Ron's expenses on the trip. Maybe it had something to do with Gringotts, or this assignment Bill was on. At least there didn't seem to be any Death Eaters involved. But Harry wasn't sure that the Daily Prophet would be allowed to print anything about Death Eaters anyway.

"Maybe I'm just being paranoid," he said aloud. Hedwig looked at him and hooted softly.

Harry had been quite jumpy lately. Often when reading in his room late at night, he had felt a prickly sensation on his neck -- the kind you get when you realize someone is watching you. One time a draft blew through the pages of a book he had left opened on his desk, yet the window had been closed and there was no one else there. He kept seeing shadows out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look, they were gone.

He thought about writing to Sirius, but couldn't think of what he would say that wouldn't imply he needed a trip to St.Mungo's psychiatric ward.

His job with Rutherford was at least going well, although after a week the old man remained a mystery. He only spoke to Harry to give him his daily instructions. Most of his time was spent pouring through large books and jotting down notes from time to time. He only went out occasionally to water his roses. Harry thought this behavior was odd, although he didn't know very many Muggles of that age. But Rutherford had seemed much more jovial when, talking to Uncle Vernon, he had asked to hire Harry. Nevertheless, Harry had gotten accustomed to his walks with Max, Rutherford's Beagle, and the dog let out a happy yap and ran to him every time he came to the door.

He unfolded the article again and stared at the photo of Ron. Although his head was slightly moving, his eyes were glassy and his expression stoic, not at all like the normal Ron who was usually smiling. "How can I help you?" he said to the picture.

"Go!" was the response he heard.

Harry looked around the room. The sun was beginning to set but there was still a golden glow coming from the window. A misty elongated shadow lingered near the closed door, seeming to form the image of a person.

"Go!" he heard again. Except this time there was no doubt about where it was coming from. The image vanished before his eyes.

"Wait!" cried Harry. He frantically dived into the space where the mist had been, only to hit the floor hard. He heard a ringing in his ears that sounded more like laughter as he lifted up his head. He looked up at the bed and saw an image that made his blood run cold. A ghostly white haze that resembled Cedric Diggory.