Charms and Curses

The next morning, Fleur awoke at dawn to the tap-tap-tap of an owl at her window. Putting on a light blue lawn dressing gown, she opened up the window and let the owl in.

She detached the letter from the owl's leg, and opened it up. One was a seemingly blank parchment, the other was a letter from Albus Dumbledore. She unfolded Dumbledore's letter and began to read.

"Dear Miss Delacour,

I did not explain your mission in great detail when last we met. But now,I shall. It is a very important mission, but it can go either way. The othersheet of parchment enclosed here, the blank one, has the details writtenon it, which can only be revealed once you perform a spell on it. Just touchthe tip of your wand to the paper and say the words 'Codex Revealum'. Theparchment has been enchanted so that only your wand will make it reveal itsportents. After you read over the details of the mission, should you chooseto accept, please apparate to the front of the Great Sphinx at 8:30. At thattime, there should be no Muggle tourists around, yet. Your partner awaits.Should you choose to decline, please let me know through owl post. Thankyou very much.

Sincerely yours, Albus Dumbledore"

Fleur opened up the second sheet of parchment, and touched her wand to the center. She muttered the spell, and words written in royal blue runic letters began to spread across the page. Furrowing her brow slightly, Fleur concentrated on translating the runes:

"The crown and crook of Cleopatra hold a powerful secret. Blessed by bothAnubis and Horus when she was born, Cleopatra was not only a powerful monarch,but a powerful witch as well. Anubis had bequeathed upon her the dark gifts:the power to communicate with and have the total obedience of snakes, andthe necromantic arts: the ability to summon the dead, even raise an armyof the deceased. Horus, on the other hand, had bestowed upon her the giftsof the light: the power of healing even the most mortal of wounds, as wellas the ability to be fearless and victorious in even the most adverse of battles.

Cleopatra had several children, sired by different fathers. By Julius Caesar, Cleopatra had a son by the name of Caesarion. By Marc Antony, Cleopatra had a daughter named Cleopatra Selene. Caesarion inherited from Cleopatra the gifts of Anubis. He was thought to have been assassinated, but in reality, he had been brought up in secrecy and seclusion, and the boy that everyone thought was Caesarion was actually a decoy. Caesarion, to avoide detection, changed his name to Sysarian, which then got changed to Syserin, then eventually Slytherin. And so it was that the offspring of Caesar and Cleopatra would be the ancestor of none other than Salazar Slytherin. Although through his gifts (the self-same ones that Anubis had given to Cleopatra) it can be seenwhat his ancestry was, Slytherin's gifts are not as pronounced as the original,some of the power had been lost over time. However, with the power infusedin Cleopatra's crown, the full powers of Anubis could be unleased.

Cleopatra Selene would marry and have a daughter by the name of Drusilla. This daughter would inherit, from Cleopatra, the gifts of Horus. Drusilla, when she grew up, would end up marrying a man by the name of Griffus. Through the course of time, that name would also be altered time and again. First, Griffus would be changed to Gryffius, then, to Gryffine, and finally, to Gryffindor. Just as her kinsman would be the ancestor of Salazar Slytherin, Drusilla would be the ancestor of Slytherin's most bitter rival, Godric Gryffindor.Like with Slytherin, Gryffindor would have inherited the gifts of his ancestor,but also, they would be weakened with the numerous successive generations.However, the powers of Horus lie fully dormant in the crook of Cleopatra.

Cleopatra's mausoleum, which houses all of her treasure, has never been found. It is protected by countless enchantments and spells. Both Muggle and wizard alike have looked for it, and vanished forever. To this day, the crown and crook have been lost."

Underneath the runes was a note from Dumbledore: "Now that you know the details of the mission, you should also realize that it is a highly risky endeavour. The Dark Lord seeks these artifacts to bring himself back to full power. With the aid of these items, he would be invincible for ten years, which would be more than enough time for him to bring an end to the world we know today, and find an heir to pass on his powers to when his time comes to an end. However, I have reliable information that he shall not start searchingfor the artifacts until Halloween. He must never be able to find them. Thatwill be your mission, Miss Delacour, to locate and bring back these artifacts,so that they may never be used for darkness. It will be a mission that involvesdaring and danger, but I have chosen both you and your partner because Ifirmly believe you two up for the task. Both of you are highly skilled inDefense Against the Dark Arts, and Transfiguration. Also, with the combinationof your extraordinary talents in Charms, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, andhis aptitude in curse-breaking, Magical creatures and History, I wouldnot hesitate, out of all the wizards and witches I know, to choose the twoof you for this particular mission. Should you choose to accept, I wishyou luck, and thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Fleur mulled over the information for a while, then strode decisively over towards the fireplace and threw in a handful of iridescent powder. Soon, the grizzled head of Pierre Maitrehistorique appeared in the flames. He had been her tutor in history, who had gotten his degree at the Academie de Magie with his thesis on Egyptian wizardry, so Fleur figured that if there was anyone who would know about the artifacts, it would be him.

"Bonjour, Mademoiselle Delacour! 'ow may I be of asseestance?"

"Bonjour, Monsieur Maitrehistorique! I was wondering, would 'oo know anysingabout ze crown et crook of Cleopatra?"

"Ah, ze crown et crook of Cleopatra, eh? Zose are vairy powerful et magical items, ze crown being blessed wis ze powers de Anubis, ze crook wis ze powers of Horus. Bos of zem are lost at ze present."

"Oui, zis I know, but is zere anysing about where an' how one could go about finding zem, per'aps?"

"Mais, zey lie in ze Mausoleum de Cleopatra, but ze Mausoleum not only 'as ze usual spells and enchantments guarding it, but many difficult ozer spells, zat would take a great amount of skeel to break srough. Not impossible, for it 'as been done before. However, zere is a final test or barrier of some sort, which no one 'as been able to break yet. All zose who 'ave made attempts 'ave nevair come back. So it is unknown precisely what sort of test it is. And, zere is a prophecy of some sort, if 'oo believe in zat sort ofsing...let me go get it..." Pierre's head disappeared for a moment, then reappearedonce more. "I will read ze prophecy to you:

'Ze dead Egyptian Queen lies under 'er golden veil An' her crown and crook lost to eternal time. Many shall be seeking, but all shall fail For only ze chosen shall ze treasure find. When ze Princess fair meets zeAdventurer bold and Charms and Curses intertwine, Only zen shall ze treasureof glorious gold Be visible from beyond ze mists of time.'

Well, zere 'oo 'ave it. If 'oo believe in zat sort of sing, of course. Well, zat is all I know of ze crown et crook. I 'ope zat 'elps 'oo. Au revoir!" Pierre gave a little wave, and then his head disappeared from the fire.

Fleur sat silently for a few moments. Well, if the prophecy held true, it would be possible that the entirety of the mission was a wild-goose chase,and that she would just end up dead with nothing accomplished. But then again,Dumbledore had decided to choose her. And besides, at least she would bedoing something useful. If nothing else, whatever information she wouldbe able to glean from the mission would certainly be helpful in the future.And moreover, Fleur was not of an overly superstitious disposition anyway.She looked into the mirror and gave a proud nod. She would accept the mission.A glance at her wristwatch told her that she had 20 minutes to get to theSphinx. Quickly, she summoned a white sleeveless Muggle tunic out of hertrunk, and a pair of khakis. Quickly putting them on, she laced up a comfortablepair of soft black leather boots and put her white scarf over her blondehair. Then, with the Runic letter, charmed to fit inside her tiny sapphirestud earring, and her wand tucked into a pocket, she disapparated.

~ ~ ~

Moments later, she arrived at the Great Sphinx. True to his word, there were no Muggle tourists in the area. In fact, there did not seem to be anyonethere at all. Except...a tall figure standing there, facing away from her,long red hair blowing in the breeze. He wore a leather vest with several pockets, the cut of the glossy material setting off his broad shoulders. A pair of Muggle jeans sat on his slim hips, encasing his long legs. As afinishing touch, he wore tall boots of dark silvery dragonhide. A fang hangingfrom his ear glittered in the sunlight. Fleur's eyes widened, and at thatmoment, the young man turned around. He gasped, seeing the familiar, beautifulface of the girl he'd dined with last night. Simultaneously, they both criedout.

"You!!"

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