Harry Potter and the Tome of Shadows

            Chapter 5: The Pyramid of Furmat

    “Welcome to Egypt, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley,” a voice rang out merrily. Harry turned to see a dark man in purple robes striding forward. “I’m Kwame Moustafa. My office sent me here to assist you in getting situated here in Egypt before we begin our business propositions.” Uncle Vernon held out his hand and shook Kwame’s hand gruffly. They engaged in formalities that bored Harry, who took the opportunity to observe his surroundings. The Egyptian Gateway was much different from that back home. The British gateway was made up mostly of stone, giving it a structured look. The floor here was made up of some sort of mud-brick or clay. The archways too were made of stone, but the walls were decorated with Tribal Masks and ancient Egyptian artifacts. Harry looked over at Hermione, who looked positively ecstatic.

    “There is so much to learn here, I can’t wait to buy a travel guide!” Hermione said, practically bouncing on her heels.

    “Who needs a travel guide?” Ron said with a grin. “I’ve been here before. I’ll take you to the cool places, like that pyramid with the shrunken heads, and the dueling arena where wizards duel for money!”

    “I thought dueling was illegal,” Hermione said frowning, but Ron shook his head.

    “Not in Egypt. And the Statue for Underage Wizardry in Egypt says that fifteen year olds and older are adults, so we can do magic and even try some Firewhiskey!”

    “I don’t know about that, Ron,” Aunt Petunia said, who had placed a hand on Ron’s shoulder. “There are adults present.”

    “Oh, right,” Ron said sheepishly. Uncle Vernon and Kwame Moustafa had finished with the formalities.

    “Mr. Moustafa, let me introduce you to my wife Petunia, my nephew Harry Potter, and his friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger.” Kwame performed the eye flick towards his scar and gave a laugh.

    “The British legend has come to Egypt!” he said merrily. “We’ve heard of your exploits. Terrible, what’s been happening, but you’re on vacation, so we won’t have any of that. And Weasley? The name sounds familiar...”

    “His father, Arthur Weasley, works for the British Ministry of Magic. The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts department,” Uncle Vernon said.

    “Ah yes. The same Arthur Weasley that has placed an embargo on flying carpets,” Kwame said knowingly. “You’ll want to be careful, Ali Bashir and his supporters are still pretty upset about that. I’m sure you’ll be safe, but ever since his son was named Minister...” Kwame let his voice trail off, but the damage was done. Ron was suddenly a lot grumpier than he was at the mention of Percy. Aunt Petunia seemed to have noticed, and she turned to Kwame to change the subject.

    “We’ll be spending most of our time with your business executives, so we’ll need someone to look after the children,” she said to Kwame, but immediately Ron and Harry started to protest.

    “But we’re of legal age here!”

    “We’re not children!”

    “Completely unfair!”

    “We can take after ourselves!”

    Aunt Petunia put up her hand.

    “I’m sure they will be fine,” Kwame said placatingly to Aunt Petunia. “We don’t have any guides at the moment. A group has just arrived that requested an unusual amount of guides to accompany them as they explore the pyramids. But I will give them one of these.” Kwame pulled out a small compact mirror from his pocket and handed it to Harry. “If you’re in trouble, just say my name and I’ll appear as quickly as possible.”

    “Excellent!” Harry said and beamed at Aunt Petunia, who looked as if she didn’t trust the mirror.

    “I want you at the hotel every night at nine o’clock,” Aunt Petunia said severely. Harry assured her that they would.

    “I shall take you to your hotel then,” Kwame said cheerfully. “After that, you’re free to explore. Keep a travel guide with you at all times, so you don’t get lost.” Uncle Vernon looked as if he wanted to dive into business straight away, but Kwame hushed him. “There’s plenty of time to deal with business later. Your uncle tells me you watched the Quidditch World Cup two years ago when my brother was the referee! He’s still quite embarrassed over the veela incident, and has even made motions to ban them from subsequent cups!” Harry laughed and followed the guide, who pointed out several interesting venues of entertainment. As they left the gateway, Harry saw several bazaars and small tents that were selling unique magical artifacts. Ron pointed out where he bought Harry’s Sneakoscope back in their third year, and then pointed out the travel booth, where Hermione bought three travel guides.

    “I want to visit the museum. The ancient Egyptian wizards are fascinating, and the museum here is supposed to be one of the best in the world!”

    “Forget the museums, we should go to the pyramids! All we need to do is reserve a time and a guide will take us through them,” Ron said.

    “We can do both, you know,” Harry said with a smile. He thumbed through the brochure and saw an advertisement for a wizarding safari, which sounded entertaining.

    “How about a safari, we could do that!” Harry pointed out, but Kwame shook his head.

    “I’m afraid the safari’s have been temporarily closed. There have been several nundu sightings lately and we can’t take any chances.”

    “Nundu? What is a nundu?” Aunt Petunia asked curiously.

    “A very dangerous beast that looks like a leopard. It’s breath is extremely poisonous,” Hermione said at once. “The Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures says that it is believed to be the most dangerous creature in existence.” Kwame looked impressed.

    “You sure know your material,” he said, bemused. Hermione blushed a bit and turned her eyes towards the brochure, trying not to look too satisfied. “Of course, you can always go on a magic carpet ride.”

    “That sounds like fun,” Harry said fairly.

    “I don’t like flying,” Hermione said pointedly.

    “Come off it, Hermione, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Ron exclaimed.

    “Do I need to remind you, Ron, that you’ve been to Egypt twice already?” Hermione snapped.

    “So what! We should enjoy ourselves, not bury ourselves in a museum,” Ron retorted.

    “I happen to find museums quite fun!” Hermione yelled.

    “Boring, more like!” Ron yelled back.

    “Guys, calm down, we’re on vacation,” Harry said, trying to cut off the argument before they got too far into it. Hermione looked as if she wanted to throw another remark Ron’s way, but she decided against it. Ron merely rolled his eyes and looked at the travel guide. When they got to the hotel, Uncle Vernon pulled Harry aside.

    “No more outbursts like that, or you’ll ruin my business,” he said warningly.

    “You try getting them to stop fighting,” Harry said desperately. “It’s in their natures.”        

    “Well you’re the expert on unnatural things, so get them to act unnatural,” Uncle Vernon said, his moustache twitching.

***

    Harry couldn’t remember having so much fun in a long time. With the Dursleys off doing business, he, Ron, and Hermione had free reign, as long as they kept in contact. They walked through the many marketplaces, looking at some of the weirdest assortment of items on sale that they could never imagine being sold in Diagon Alley. A wizard with an odd scarf covering his face selling a strange variety of creatures, including a three-headed snake called a runespoor and claimed to have manticore eggs (Ron hastened to remind them that they should not mention this to Hagrid). There were several shops that sold magic carpets, even one run by Ali Bashir himself. He even managed to spot Ron’s Weasley hair before the three of them made motions to get lost in the crowds. Ron had spotted advertisements for a dueling Coliseum that was located near some of the less prominent pyramids. It took Hermione five good minutes of convincing before Ron and Harry finally! promised to visit the wizarding museum in Cairo. Hermione, very much appeased, decided to join them.

    The Coliseum matches were nothing short of breathtaking. There were several wizarding duels, most of which ended horribly for the loser. Most ended up horribly scarred; one of them disappeared for several hours, and when he returned, his skin was covered in red welts and one of his legs was on backwards. But while the wizarding duels were suspenseful, the creature fights were nothing short of terrifying. There were battles between two male manticores, a trio of chimaera fighting to the death, and even a match up between two dragons, both of which were Hungarian Horntails. Halfway through the match, however, the dragons were more keen on escaping than fighting, and the crowds had to disperse quickly to avoid being burned and stamped.

    “You know, that was extremely dangerous!” Hermione said later, sipping on some butterbeer at the hotel. “They should know better than having those creatures fight one another. It’s animal cruelty, that’s what it is.”

    “Oh come off it, Hermione, they heal the animals at the end. No harm, no foul,” Ron said offhandedly. “Did you see the way those two chimaera teamed up on the other one? I don’t know how they managed to fix them!”

    “The wizarding duels were pretty intense too,” Harry said, taking a swig of his own butterbeer. “That last one who ended up stuck in that glass case nearly suffocated. I wonder why there aren’t any laws against that sort of thing.”

    “We are in a different country,” Ron reminded him. “Besides, they all sign wavers and such, and there are rules against using certain spells. It’s all well regulated, we just don’t see the interference, which is why everything’s so suspenseful.”

    “It still is extremely reckless,” Hermione said. “I’m glad we’re finally doing something else. We’re going to the museum tomorrow, and then we can see some pyramids. I’ve always wanted to visit the Pyramids of Giza.”

    “Not those old muggle pyramids!” Ron groaned.

    “Muggle pyramids?” Harry asked, confused.

    “There are muggle pyramids and magical pyramids, of course,” Hermione said, as if this was not a startling discovery. “All of the pyramids were built by wizards and witches, since muggles didn’t have the heavy machinery they have today. But since the ancient Egyptians didn’t care about maintaining secrecy, they didn’t make to repel muggles from them. So muggles eventually wrote down the locations and by then it was too late to hide them. So of course the muggles wanted to claim them, and the wizarding population wanted to keep them, and a battle occurred, after which wizards hid every last pyramid that hasn’t been claimed by muggles.”

    “And those that are claimed by muggles have been stripped of all magical properties,” Ron said. “Which is why they are boring. There are whole sets of pyramids that muggles haven’t discovered that are completely awesome. Shrunken heads, magical artifacts, it’s great. Some even have this spell that shows you what happened in the pyramids, it’s very cool.”

    “So we’ll go to the museum first, and then the pyramids,” Harry said. “I still want to go on a magic carpet.”

    “Let’s do it tomorrow night, after the pyramids and museum. The nighttime ones are better,” Ron said brightly.

    “Erm, I think I’ll stay here,” Hermione said, putting down her butterbeer and looking intently at the floor. “I’m falling behind on my Hogwarts work anyhow.”

    “We’ve all finished, Hermione, nice try,” Harry said with a smirk.

    “Besides, it’s all for one. We go together,” Ron said determinedly.

    “But seriously, what if we fall off? Get lost? It’s pretty dangerous!” Hermione said in a shrill voice.

    “There are security measures,” Ron insisted. “It won’t be the same without you there, Hermione. Come on.” Hermione looked at the fervent expressions on Ron’s and Harry’s faces and she sighed.

    “Fine. But if I fall out, it’ll be on your heads,” she muttered.

    “Deal,” Harry said. “What should we do tonight though?”

    “Let’s play some chess,” Ron said enthusiastically, but Harry shook his head.

    “No way, Ron. You always win.”

    “Not always. Luna won last year against me. Are you going to let Loony Luna beat me and not you guys?”

    “I’ll do it then,” Hermione said, her eyes narrowed. “Assuming you didn’t let Luna win that time.” Ron gave Hermione a confused look, while Harry took in a deep breath. Hermione was straying into dangerous territory here. Harry remembered only too well the last time Hermione mentioned Luna as a romantic possibility for Ron. Ron was not pleased at all.

    “I never let anyone win when I play them in chess,” Ron said with his eyebrows raised.     

    “If you say so,” Hermione said, her eyes on the chessboard. “We’ll see in a moment, then.” Ron busied himself with preparing and made comments to himself about strategies. Harry watched wearily, wondering if Hermione and Ron were about to spiral into another argument, but they seemed to have reached an agreement to not continue their argument forward. The match began, and Ron, as usual, displayed his usual prowess at chess, easily taking several of Hermione’s pieces. Harry expected another easy victory for Ron until, after long deliberation, Hermione took Ron’s queen. Ron looked absolutely stunned, while Harry couldn’t help but grin.

    “Wow,” Harry said in amazement. Never before had Ron’s queen been taken, especially not by Hermione, who out of the three of them seemed to be the worst at chess. Ron’s ears reddened, and he looked frantically around the board.    

    “That doesn’t mean I lose,” he muttered to himself. Hermione had shown no emotion, but merely peered intently at the board. Harry was reminded irresistibly of Professor Dumbledore, his face focused, with no sign of obvious emotion.

    “I think it’s your move,” Hermione prompted.

    “I know,” Ron snapped. The match quickly intensified after that. Harry was actually in suspense as he watched. Both were displaying fits of genius. Ron’s carefully laid traps were playing off, but he was also being impulsive in his moves, catching Hermione off guard. His king came perilously close to checkmate, but with a sacrifice of his knight, he protected it.

    “Sacrifice is needed,” Ron said, almost comforting himself. Harry felt something nag at the back of his mind, something about sacrifice.

    Sirius sacrificed himself for you, remember that, Harry thought suddenly. He did not know what made him think that; it came from seemingly out of nowhere. He felt his face get hot as he watched the game. He hardly thought of Sirius; he didn’t allow himself to. If he did, he would wallow like he did with Cedric, and he couldn’t afford to do that. He missed Sirius, he knew he did, but to wallow in grief would be too much. Sirius wouldn’t have wanted it. Harry focused more on the chess match, trying to distract himself.

    “Almost,” Hermione said after one of Ron’s feints worked and nearly cornered Hermione’s king. “You almost had me there.”

    “Don’t worry, I’ll get him sooner or later,” Ron said with smiling. He was deep into the match, Harry could tell. There was determination on Ron’s face that was missing from almost all of Ron’s other endeavors. He wanted to beat Hermione so badly that Harry started to question why he was so intense with his chess. It was Hermione’s move yet again, and she was faced with a difficult situation. She was in check, and the only way she could get out of it would be to sacrifice her own queen. She made to do it, but hesitated and drew her hand back.

    “Hermione, just make the move, you know there isn’t another way,” Ron prompted with glee.

    “Shut up for a second, I’m trying to think,” Hermione said, her eyes whizzing across the board. Harry took one quick look at the board and he knew, he knew with absolute certainty, that if Hermione wanted to win, she’d have to sacrifice her queen. If Harry was playing, he wouldn’t have hesitated. It was just like Ron said, sacrifice is necessary.

    So you’re willing to sacrifice your life to stop Voldemort from gaining power? Harry tried to ignore the thoughts whizzing through his head, but he couldn’t. Dumbledore’s words from last spring were going though his mind. He’d have to die in fighting Lord Voldemort. He’d have to take up the burden of Godric Gryffindor. He’d have to. He’d have to sacrifice for the greater good.

    “Hermione, come on, we should be ten moves later by now,” Ron pleaded.

    “Just hold on a second!” Hermione hissed. “There might be another way.”

    It wasn’t fair. Why should he have to give up his life? Why couldn’t there be another way, just like Hermione said? There certainly might be. He didn’t want to give everything up, to lose Hermione, lose Ron, lose the Dursleys just when they finally accepted him. His friends at Hogwarts, the Weasleys, everyone who had grown to know and love; he couldn’t give that up. No, there certainly must be another way than to have him fight Lord Voldemort directly.

    “Hermione, it’s like back in McGonagall’s chess set in our first year. We had to give me up to make check mate. You can’t keep playing without sacrificing your queen,” Ron said rationally. Hermione merely shot him a look of venom before turning back to the chess set. Harry forgot about Ron’s move, when he sacrificed himself so that Harry and Hermione could move ahead. Ron knew the value of sacrifice, why didn’t Harry? Maybe he should just accept his loss. But what if Ron and Hermione had to be sacrificed, like Sirius?

    No. Harry could not put the two of them in danger. They meant too much to him to lose. If one of them...if they were to...

    “HAH!” Hermione cried triumphantly, moving a pawn in front of her king. “I told you there was another way.” Harry was startled out of his thoughts by Hermione’s exclamation. He looked at the chessboard and saw that Hermione had finally found a way to counter Ron’s attack. Harry’s heart leapt; maybe sacrifice wasn’t necessary after all. Yes, it seemed there could be another way. He looked at his mate, expecting a shocked look on his face, but merely saw a look of what seemed like a sort of muted sadness.

    “Better luck next time, Hermione,” he said softly, moving a piece forward. Harry felt his heart sink as Ron looked at Hermione, a sadness being expressed so subtly that it seemed to have just wafted in the room through a slight breeze. “Checkmate.”

***

    By the time Harry had awoken the next morning, his thoughts seemed to have rushed out of his head. He took a few moments to banish whatever lingering thoughts about Sirius were in his head, and got dressed. Ron was sleeping on the floor, while Hermione had taken the second bed. Harry knew tonight it was Hermione’s turn on the floor, but he decided that he’d be nice and take the hit for her. He yawned, ran his hand through his hair, feeling how messy it was, and decided to take a shower. He got quickly undressed and turned on the spray. The hot spray and the steam cleared his mind. He showered for ten minutes, feeling extremely at rest, when he stepped out and toweled dry. He got quickly dressed and was about to leave the bathroom when he heard hushed whispers coming from the next room.

    “He’s having thoughts about Sirius again,” Hermione whispered in a panicky voice.

    “Are you sure? How can you be sure?” Ron said in an unsure voice.

    “Ron,” Hermione said severely. “Do we need to go over this again?”

    “Fine, but what can we do about it? He was his godfather, you can’t expect him to not think about it.”

    “That’s exactly the point, Ron. He never did think about it before. He seemed to have come to terms about it.”

    “I don’t know, Hermione. More like he ignored it.”

    Harry didn’t know what to think. Half of him was angry that they were talking about him like this behind his back, but he knew logically that they were simply worried about him. The other half was feeling a bit guilty. He never did properly deal with Sirius’ death, but they were on vacation, they didn’t have to deal with it now.

    “Well, either way, we have to tread carefully. He can’t be allowed to dwell on it. You know what Dumbledore said.”

    Harry felt a hot swoop of anger at these words. So Dumbledore was in on this as well. The resentful feeling towards his headmaster started to creep in once again. Ever since last year, when Dumbledore completely left him out of the loop, Harry had not been on good terms with him. He blamed him somewhat for Sirius’ death, but most of all, Harry was furious with him for placing so much responsibility on his shoulders. Heir of Gryffindor he was, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a choice. Didn’t Dumbledore said it was our choices, not the circumstances of birth or inherent powers, that made us who we are?

    “Are you sure he’s right though? Harry’s parents were murdered, and nothing like Dumbledore said would happen has happened.”

    “That’s different. The same with Cedric. Harry was too young to understand what had happened to his parents, and so by the time Harry even knew, it was too late. And he wasn’t that close to Cedric, even if he dwelled on his murder.”

    Harry felt heat rush to his face. What did they think he was going to do, wallow in depression? Hurt himself? Kill himself even? Did they even know him at all? Harry tried to get his anger in control. He didn’t want to ruin the vacation, and he didn’t want Ron and Hermione to know he had heard him. He made a loud noise in the bathroom, and when he heard Hermione shushing Ron, he walked out of the bathroom, hitching an incredibly forced smile on his face.

    “It’s about time you guys woke up! Ready for the pyramids?”

    “Absolutely,” Ron said with a grin.

    “Remember, we’re going to the museum first,” Hermione said. Ron groaned aloud, but Harry remained silent.

    “Ok. We have to check in with my aunt and uncle first, so while you guys get ready I’m going to go check in,” Harry said in a horribly hearty voice. Hermione nodded and Harry exited the room, feeling anger and resentment gnawing at his insides. He knocked on the door to his aunt and uncle’s room, and the door swung open. Uncle Vernon was tying his tie while Aunt Petunia was trying to fancy up her hair.

    “Harry, how are you doing?” Aunt Petunia said hastily, spraying more hair spray into her hair.

    “Erm, good. What’s up for today?”

    “Kwame’s taking us to his boss today, we’re having lunch and then getting right into business. By the end of the day I should have thirty thousand drills sold and finally enough money to buy that vacation home in Majorca,” Uncle Vernon said with glee.

    “Why is someone in Egypt willing to buy thirty thousand drills?” Harry asked, confused.

    “For diamond mining, I expect,” Uncle Vernon said, his tie straining to hold on against the bulk of his neck. “What does it matter anyhow, we’re going to be very rich. I bet I get a promotion at Grunnings for this sale. It’ll make our firm!”

    “Oh, I’m so very proud of you dear,” Aunt Petunia said, her eyes shimmering with tears of pride. Uncle Vernon finally finished tying his tie.

    “So boy, what are you and your lackeys doing today?”

    “Going to the museum, and then to see some pyramids,” Harry said brightly.

    “You have your mirror?” Aunt Petunia asked, her eyes narrowing. Harry clapped his pocket.

    “With me at all times.”

    “Good. And I want you back before it gets dark. That Nundugu thing is making me nervous.”

    “Nundu,” Harry automatically corrected her. “But we were planning on taking a magic carpet ride. They’re located right here in Cairo, we won’t go too far.”

    “I don’t know,” Aunt Petunia said skeptically, but Uncle Vernon waved his hand.    

    “The boy is sixteen, he’ll be fine. Don’t baby him, he’ll get too soft. Anyhow, we have more important things to worry about, like selling those drills.”

    “Great. We’re off to the museum at once. Good luck on your sale, Uncle Vernon.” Harry exited quickly, and headed back to his room. He was glad he was doing something today that would take his mind off of things. When he returned to his room, he found Hermione and Ron ready to go. Ron had a bag hitched to his back.

    “Essentials,” Ron said brightly. “Water, some snacks, and a couple of tricks and treats that Fred and George gave me.”

    “And why would we need anything from Fred and George in a pyramid?” Hermione asked crossly.

    “You never know. There are tons of booby traps and such,” Ron said with glee.

    “You know that other wizards and witches took away all of the dangerous stuff,” Hermione said, rolling her eyes.

    “All the same, we could get lost in some of the unexplored parts,” Ron responded.

    “And what if there are spiders?” Hermione said with a malicious grin on her face.

    “I’m over that,” Ron said with a wave of his hand, but he looked rather uncomfortable as he said it. Harry smiled, a genuine one this time.

    “Let’s go to the museum.”

***

    Harry was getting slightly bored as they walked through the museum. Hermione kept squealing when she saw several artifacts that she recognized from her various readings, while Ron kept taking a look at his watch.

    “How much longer are we staying in here?” Ron asked impatiently, but Hermione shushed him.    

    “We’re almost through now. There’s just that section over there left,” Hermione said, pointing towards a doorway that was blocked by a black curtain.

    “Only overage wizards and witches can go there,” Ron said triumphantly. “Tough luck, Hermione.”

    “You’re forgetting, we’re overage here,” she said eagerly. “Come on, Harry, let’s go.” She grabbed Harry’s hand and led him to the curtain. Harry snuck a glance at Ron and noticed that his ears went rather red at the tip, but no sooner than he realized that Harry was looking, he smiled.

    “At least it’s the last room, then for some real adventuring,” he said. Harry chuckled and let himself be led into the room with Hermione. It was rather dark, with only small lights illuminating the sparse number of artifacts that were in the room.

    “These are from the Pyramid of Furmat,” Hermione gushed, looking at one of the glass cases.

    “What’s so special about the Pyramid of Furmat,” Harry asked curiously, noticing that his hand was still in Hermione’s. He wondered vaguely if Ron minded, but Ron stood to the side of him, his face hitched in an expression of interest.

    “Only the coolest pyramid of them all,” he said in a hushed voice. “We didn’t get to go in last time I was here, Mum said it was too dangerous for even the adults. Not even Bill has gone through the entire pyramid.”

    “Why is it so dangerous?” Harry asked, feeling completely lost.

    “I read about it in the travel guide. Furmat was an ancient Egyptian witch who took power at around 360 B.C. I believe she was the very first person of magical heritage to attempt to seize power. She killed loads of people on the way to the top.”

    “How did she get so powerful?” Ron asked, breathless.

    “Well, no one knows for sure, really. Some say she commanded an army of the dead, but that doesn’t make any sense, because no spell can reawaken them. Some also say she had a way to control dementors, but that doesn’t make much sense either. Most of the hieroglyphics with her have been scratched out. She was defeated at around 382 B.C., but no one knows how she lost her powers. The story goes that she sought out the knowledge to become immortal, and discovered a book filled with terrible power. She used the book, grew to use horrific powers that no decent wizard or witch would use, and when she used those powers to try to achieve immortality, she met her downfall. The story is very vague, probably because it’s legend.”

    “So the pyramid, why is the pyramid so dangerous?” Harry asked.

    “Well, they took all of her artifacts and tried to destroy them, but they couldn’t be destroyed, so they built a pyramid to Furmat, hoping she would never return. There are so many jinxes, curses, hexes, and booby traps in the pyramid that most people aren’t allowed in. So many have died trying to find the mysterious book that she used that the Egyptian government closed up all of the perilous parts of the pyramid and kept only a few rooms open to the public.”

    “I don’t like the sound of that book,” Harry said with a shiver. Hermione had finished her story and was going to look at some of the artifacts that were pulled out. Ron too was peering through the glass cases with rekindled interest. Harry contented himself in looking at a section of hieroglyphs that were pulled from the pyramid. So was this Furmat story true? Did she find a book that could lead to immortality? What if Voldemort got his hand on it? Harry didn’t want to fathom the consequences of Voldemort finding the book. Harry was snapped out of his revery by a sharp cry coming from behind him. He wheeled around and saw Ron and Hermione bent over a glass case. Ron’s eyes were wide with shock, while Hermione let out another gasp.

    “Harry! Come here!” Harry, his heart pounding, walked over to them. He peered over and saw a single strip of hieroglyphs, followed by a paragraph of words that seemed to be English and another language.

    “What’s the big deal?” he asked, thoroughly confused.

    “Those are the hieroglyphics that were on the Orb of Power!” Ron said in a hushed voice.

    “Are you sure?” Harry asked skeptically.

    “I’d eat a hippogriff if I was wrong!” Ron said.

    “So what does that mean?” Harry asked.

    “These markings didn’t come from the Orb of Power, they came from a door in the pyramid that has yet to be opened! What if the next object in the chain is in there!” Hermione said excitedly.

    “You mean...”

    “That book!” she said excitedly.

    “Let’s go get it!” Ron said, but suddenly Hermione’s expression changed.

    “No way, Ron, it’s too dangerous. We should tell Professor Dumbledore, he needs to destroy the book and disrupt the chain.”

    “But you can’t destroy Furmat’s possessions,” Ron said, tapping the guide that Hermione had in her hand. “If we get it first, You-Know-Who won’t be able to get it for himself.”

    “The pyramid’s off limits, Ron,” Harry reminded him.

    “What’s wrong with you, Harry? You of all people should be jumping at this opportunity,” Ron said, his eyebrows raised.

    “I don’t want anyone to get hurt,” Harry said firmly. “We’ll visit the other pyramids.”

    “Let’s at least look at the available rooms,” Ron said. “That can’t do any harm.” Harry was about to respond in the negative, but he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint Ron.

    “Just the available rooms, Ron,” Harry said.

***

    It took Harry and Hermione twenty minutes to convince Ron to finally leave the pyramid once they were done. There were only two rooms available, and neither of which had any extraordinary magical properties. Ron, who had finally given up, had taken to letting out very audible sighs of frustration that Harry was having a hard time ignoring. Hermione looked as if she wanted to start another argument with him, but she kept silent. They were waiting for a bus to take them back to the hotel.

    “Look, Ron, I’m sorry about the pyramid being a bust, but there’s nothing we can do about it!” Hermione said crossly.

    “You two are just giving up,” Ron said, equally as annoyed. “I think it’s very irresponsible to give up this chance to put a wrench in You-Know-Who’s plan.”

    “I’m not willing to risk lives for a book we don’t even know that much about,” Harry said simply.

    “You know this isn’t just about a book, Harry. What if we save lives getting that book before he does?” Ron said.

    “And what if you guys get hurt, or killed in there?”

    “We won’t,” Ron said simply.

    “How do you know?”

    “I don’t really. But we’ve always managed to take care of each other, why can’t we do the same here?”

    “I’m not willing to risk it,” Harry said once again, being reminded of Ron’s chess game. He was not willing to sacrifice them, not for anything.

    “Risk is part of the game, mate,” Ron said.

    “Would you two stop!” Hermione said shrilly. “Professor Dumbledore can take care of it!”

    “Like he took care of last year!” Ron said hotly. Harry didn’t understand Ron’s anger, but he partially agreed with him. Dumbledore didn’t really handle things properly last year. “Look, you two just aren’t getting it. We can’t sit here and play it safe. We are in the middle of a war. You two have no idea what a wizarding war is like. I’ve heard my mum and dad talking about it. You know that my mother had two brothers killed last time? How about my Nana? Your parents died too, Harry. I don’t know about either of you, but I do not want to see the Dark Mark over my house when I get home, and if I can do anything to stop it, then I’m going to!” Harry and Hermione were stricken into silence.

    “He’s right,” Hermione said simply.

    “No, we’re not doing it,” Harry said desperately. He took a look at the pyramid of Furmat, nestled in between two smaller pyramids that had no opening to the public. He heard Ron saying something vaguely, but he wasn’t listening. He noticed that someone was entering the pyramid. A small, stooped looking someone was at the entrance. He or she was wearing blood red robes, and was walking with a slight limp.

    “Oh no,” Harry said softly, pulling out his wand. People around him were looking shocked.

    “What is it?” Ron asked, annoyed that Harry wasn’t listening to a word he was saying.

    “Malagar. She’s going into the pyramid.”

    “WHAT?” Ron yelled and turned. Harry started sprinting towards the pyramid, leaving paved road and running through the sand. He heard Ron and Hermione chasing him. Harry felt incredibly stupid. He had seen these pyramids before, he just hadn’t realized.

    “Back in St. Mungo’s last year! Malagar used the Orb and showed her three pyramids! The Orb must have showed her these pyramids, and I bet anything she was asking where the book of Furmat was!”

    “We’re lucky we were here at the same time,” Ron said.

    “I don’t think it’s luck,” Hermione said, stopping at the entrance. “This could be a trap.”

    “We have to risk it,” Ron said simply. “That book is going to give her power back. Remember, someone stripped her of her power, it said so in that book last year. Can we risk her getting it back?” Ron looked expectantly at Harry. Harry felt frustration welling inside him. He did not want to go in there. If he did, he would be indulging Dumbledore, taking up Gryffindor’s burden when he absolutely did not want to do so.

    “Let’s go,” Harry said finally. After this, Harry promised himself, he would be done doing Dumbledore’s dirty work. The three of them, wands at the ready, entered the pyramid.