Challenge for The Houses Competition:
House: Ravenclaw
Word Count: 814
Category: Drabble
Prompt(s): [Setting] Graveyard
Bonus: [Main Character] Bill Weasley
Year: 7th year (stand-in)
Bill Weasley was used to excavating - he was a curse-breaker for Gringotts after all. It was his job to remove the curses from the tombs of ancient Egyptian wizards so that Gringotts could come in and remove the magical artefacts before the muggles got in there. This was not a safe job, but he had trained for it and knew what to expect, well, most of the time.
This particular assignment took him to the Tombs of the Nobles, a graveyard where the priesthood was interred. Witches and Warlocks of Ancient Egypt often had positions in the priesthood, and it was from their graves that Gringotts hoped to gain their treasures.
The High Priest Senenmut was Bill's target today. His tomb was grand and well protected, and therefore Bill had to be particularly careful.
As always, he erected a Muggle-proof barrier before entering the tomb. The doorway collapsed as Bill stepped inside, knocking him further into the grave. When he came to, he had a sore foot where a large piece of the lintel had landed. What was worse, was that Bill couldn't find his wand. He felt around in the dark but couldn't find it. Wandless magic wasn't his strong suit, but he could at least conjure some light in the form of a small floating ball. From that, he could see that his wand was nowhere in sight. It must be on the other side of the cave or worse, under the rubble. He tried to dig his way out, but it was no use.
Managing to get to his feet, he used the light ball to guide his way through the tomb; there must be a secondary exit or some other way out of the tomb. He reached the antechamber and saw a solitary figure in front of the entrance to the main burial chamber where Senenmut would be interred.
The figure rose, and Bill's heart caught in his throat. The body looked like a lion, but the head was unmistakably a woman's. It was a sphinx; this proved that Senenmut was a wizard! Wizards of Ancient Egypt often had a Sphinx to guard burial chambers. He had to be very careful; they were dangerous if you failed to solve their riddle. The creature approached him and began to speak:
What cries without a voice, flutters without wings, and bites without a mouth?
Bill thought for a moment. What could it be? Something magical? No, he reasoned. Some kind of creature? No. Just as he was about to solve it, there came a gust of air through the chamber out of one of the side doors. He realised that there must be a way out in that direction, but better still, he had his answer.
"The answer is wind," he informed the Sphinx. The creature nodded and moved to the side, curling up in a ball in the corner of the chamber, the task complete.
Before checking out the burial chamber, however, Bill had to see if there was another exit. He made his way in the direction of the wind and looked in the side chamber. There was an opening in the ceiling, not that big, but big enough for him to climb through. If only he had a broom so he could reach it.
He retraced his steps from the burial chamber and started looking around. Without his wand, he had to be very careful. He had no way of breaking any curses that protected the priest, so he stayed away from the sarcophagus and focused on the objects around the chamber instead.
Bill's eyes were drawn to the staff in the corner of the room. He had seen drawings of Egyptian wizards holding such a staff but didn't know the purpose. He picked it up and examined the wall behind it - there was a section of text, and a mural of the priest holding it. His feet didn't touch the ground. Could this be? But how? If this was what Bill thought it was then it was a significant discovery! Not to mention his ticket out of there. The text read that it was a Was-Sceptre, and from the description, it sounded like the technique required was a lot like flying a broom.
Taking the broom-type object to the side chamber, he focused his energy on the staff in his hand, willing it to levitate. Bill managed to get a few feet off the ground before he lost his balance and fell. Brushing himself off, he tried again and again and eventually he managed to clear the small hole in the ceiling. Manoeuvring himself over to the entrance to find his wand, it lay unharmed right where he thought it would be.
"I am a genius!" Bill yelled to the world, laughing to himself, as he levitated back to base. The others were going to be so jealous!
A/N A Was-Sceptre was commonly found in Ancient Egyptian burial chambers.