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Chapter 837: Rawya’s Idea
🕑 Added 2023-08-15 13:41:03 +0000 UTCThe topic shifted to the goblin Zoser. Because of Bill's introduction, Fleur, Hermione, and Gabrielle did not have a good impression of him.
"I don't like that goblin," said Gabrielle, wrinkling her nose. "He looks cunning."
"Most goblins are like this, they are not trustworthy..." Fleur remarked.
In the history of magic, goblins had been trying to resist the rule of human wizards. They had launched rebellions or revolts for various reasons, causing great trouble to the Wizarding World. They were smart and good at dealing with wizards. They were on the two extremes with house-elves.
Although nominally subject to the management of the Ministry of Magic, with no freedom, in fact this kind of control existed in name only.
Hermione once hoped that the house-elves could learn from the goblins and defend their rights and interests.
"Mr. Zoser may not have a good temper, but he’s very good at studying Egyptian history and ancient magical relics. He’s also very good at breaking all kinds of curses. We can learn a lot with him,” said Rawya. “That’s why I decided to join his excavation team."
"Have you heard of those rumors?" Hermione hesitated for a moment and went on to say, "About the fact that there are always some members of his team dead or missing..."
"You’ve heard of this too?" Rawya froze for a moment, and the smile on her face gradually disappeared. "Yes, there have always been such rumors. The Ministry of Magic has investigated many times, but there has been no evidence."
"He’s been very careful, no one else knew," said Bill, shifting his gaze away from excavation drawings of the ruins of Amun Ra to join their conversation. "The work of Curse-Breaker is very dangerous, and casualties are very common. Zoser is also good at picking himself out of all kinds of troubles, but these incidents have indeed happened..."
"I know all of that, Mr. Weasley, many people have warned me,” said Rawya, her voice getting lower. "I have a very close friend who joined Zoser‘s excavation team, and he never came back."
No one spoke. It seemed that Rawya’s decision to join Zoser’s excavation team was not as simple as it appeared.
She seemed to be seeking evidence to avenge her friend, but so far, she hadn't found anything.
"I hope you won’t talk about this to anyone. I won’t give up until I find out the truth,” said Rawya again, clenching her fists, "This exploration of the ruins of Amun Ra is an opportunity. I saw the portrait of Anubis on the wall..."
Anubis was the guide and guardian of the dead. His appearance often indicated the need for a living soul to sacrifice.
If Zoser wanted to get the ultimate treasure, he would undoubtedly resort to harming others, and that's when there would be evidence.
Hermione looked at Rawya in surprise. She didn't expect this girl who had always been smiling would have such thoughts, and risked herself to collect evidence against Zoser...
"If you need any help, just let us know. We'll support you," Bill sighed and said, "In any case; you must remember that Zoser is a dangerous guy. You should be careful not to separate from the others when excavating the ruins of Amun Ra."
After discussing various rumors about Zoser for a while, the topic finally turned to the ruins of Amun Ra being excavated.
"The relic of Amun Ra is located in the center of the city of Per-Ramses. It’s a large building that has been buried under thick gravel. For thousands of years, whenever people try to dig it out, the sand is quickly filled back into the excavated sand pit. The excavation project has been unsuccessful,” said Rawya. “In Egypt, wizards call the yellow sand shadows of impenetrable oblivion.”
"Why not use magic to remove the gravel?" Gabrielle asked.
"Because the yellow sand itself has been bewitched to act as a natural barrier to prevent intruders," said Bill. "It wasn't until recently that those explorers discovered a passage into it, and this ancient temple was revealed to the world."
"Take a look at this drawing, the ground floor of the temple of Amun Ra is very large, and the buildings inside are intricate. Various precious ancient relics, terrible curses and automatic defense systems can be seen everywhere." Rawya’s finger ran across the drawing, pointing to a narrow line. "After some exploration, we found a secret tunnel full of scarabs, and Mr. Zoser speculated that it might lead to the central area."
"Central area?!"
"Yes, this secret tunnel is under a statue of Isis, the funeral goddess,” said Rawya, lowering her voice. "Passing through that tunnel, we went into the underground area of the temple of Amun, where we found a lot of valuable antiquities, a stone gate and three huge obelisks, representing the sun, the moon, and the stars."
The obelisk is the most characteristic ancient Egyptian architecture besides the pyramids.
It’s a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. The spire is often wrapped in gold, copper or gold and silver alloy. Some magical obelisks also use strange crystals and gems at the top and various kinds of mithril ores.
Generally speaking, obelisks are built in the most prominent places.
The obelisk is carved from a single piece of granite, weighing several hundred tons, and is engraved on all sides with intricate hieroglyphs or magical runes that praise the gods and pharaohs.
When the rising sun hits the top of the monument, it will shine like a dazzling sun.
It was the first time Hermione, Fleur, and Gabrielle heard about the construction of an obelisk deep underground, and Bill was also interested.
Regardless of the angle of view, the temple of Amun was extraordinary, and there might be important treasures hidden inside.
"We have investigated carefully, and the way to open the stone gate is on the three obelisks," Rawya continued. "It is not magic we are familiar with, but Alchemy. We must use Alchemy to unlock this mechanism."
"That's why Zoser found Evan?" Hermione asked, staring carefully at the drawing in front of her.
"It seems so. We went back to Cairo to find an alchemist or a wizard who is proficient in alchemy. We have already invited some of them," said Rawya hesitantly, "I didn't expect that Mr. Zoser would invite Mr. Mason..."
"He said it was because of Nicolas Flamel’s letter, but Evan is really strong in this respect." Hermione thought for a moment, and then told her what she had speculated last night and listened to Rawya’s opinion.
"You can draw these inferences just by looking at the material?!" Rawya looked at Hermione with admiration. "The excavation team also speculated about what you said, because we did not find the statue of Amun in the relics. Instead, there were statues of gods guarding the dead, and the curses inside were also very powerful. Many people have already died."
She told them a few more things, all because of the tragic death that had triggered the curse.
As they passed through the secret passage full of scarabs, the first two people who went in were drilled into their bodies by the bugs, and if they hadn't reacted quickly enough to dig them out together with the flesh, they might have eaten their guts.
In the end, they set fire to them and it took them several days before they were able to get through the tunnel.
Rawya didn’t care about danger. She seemed to think that the more dangerous it was, the more Zoser would be exposed.
If Evan were here, in fact, he would tell her not to bother. He had solved the problem!
Under the effect of Veritaserum, Zoser had stated all his past crimes, and now he only had to make these things public.
