Disclaimer: the characters belong to J.K.Rowling.
Chapter III – First Night in Egypt
Hermione was unpacking. She still enjoyed doing some things in the old-fashioned Muggle style. She had her private quarters in the University of Cairo. The Morgana Institute hadn't made any economies with her accommodations. The room looked great and she couldn't stand the giddiness that came over her. She was facing a new challenge, another world was opening in front of her. She felt as though she was one of the explorers, one of those crazy people who travelled the Earth without maps.
She felt the apparition behind her and when she turned around, she already had the wand in her hand.
"Good instinct, Miss Granger"
Oliver Wood was smiling at her.
"The University does not have an anti-apparition barrier. Maybe you should improvise something if you don't want to be bothered"
"Yes. I shall"
"The drawback to apparition is that one can't really knock before entering. I'm sorry I've startled you"
"It's quite all right"
Her voice sounded very cold. She hated to be discovered with her guard down.
"The reason for my apparition was this"
He handed her a delicate silver bracelet, shaped as a snake.
"It is a translator. You may learn Arabic if you wish, but as promised, we provided you with means of integration in this community"
"Thanks. A silver snake with emerald eyes?" she raised her brow.
"Yes. Well, a lot of our scientists have been in Slytherin. It doesn't have side effects, you know! It's just a charmed object."
"Is there anything else, Mr. Wood? I have quite a lot of things to do"
"So do I, but there are some aspects that need clarification"
"Such as?" *Oh, get on with it!*
"You need to know that I was appointed your supervisor for the duration of your first year here. So, whatever your needs for security, I must have the possibility to apparate in your chambers. We'll connect you to the floo powder network, but it's not very reliable on long distances. The other thing is that you have to pay a visit to the Morgana library and get a thorough briefing from the person in charge of the project"
"When?"
"This weekend. I know you have your apparition licence, but I'll come and get you Saturday morning. There are some protocols surrounding the Institute"
"All right. I'll wait for you here, Saturday morning"
"So long"
He dissaparated before her eyes, leaving her to say good bye to the thin air.
**********
Later that Sunday night, Hermione tried to organise her thoughts. Throughout the summer she read everything she found about Egypt in generally and about the University in particularly.
The secrecy around the Egyptian civilisation was annoying. She was tempted to visit Madeleine's cave of pensives, the "Alexandria". Although her friend gave her the only existing map and all the keys to unlock the path to the cave, she didn't feel right about it.
Hermione wondered where Madeleine was. She had vanished from the face of the Earth a year ago, after her final exam. They have send owls back and forth, but Madeleine had been careful enough to cover her tracks. She couldn't help feeling concerned about her. Her friend seemed to have an unnatural aptitude to get in all sort of trouble.
To her surprise, a grey owl came through the open window. She imediately recognised Madeleine's seal. The words on the parchment were scribbled hastily. Hermione smiled reading them, knowing that her friend had acted on impulse. She enjoyed too much staying hidden to let anyone know her whereabouts.
"Dear Hermione,
I heard that the Morgana had offered you their once in life time deal. You should be careful about them. They always have ulterior motives. Everyone does actually, but theirs are somewhat darker. Or so the gossip goes.
You know me, still a great believer in Divination (Ha! Ha!) and I see your arrival in Egypt as a sign. I took a job near Gizeh , playing archaeologist for the Muggles. Feel free to visit me when you have the time. Or send me a reply through this owl.
Missed you tons!
Madeleine"
"Dear Madeleine,
Congratulations for the job! Have you finally decided to settle down? Or the offer to visit you expires in a week? I'll come to see you as soon as possible, don't you doubt it!
I missed you, too!
Hermione"
***********
The first day at the University was tiresome. Hermione was astonished by the luxurious settings. Her idea of a University established two steps away from the Sahara was totally wrong. She had expected an ascetic lifestyle, mimicked in the sobriety of the rooms. Nothing was farther from the truth.
The spacious rooms made the Hogwarts Great Hall look diminutive. This people had build the pyramids, she tried to make sense out of the surprise. The impressive magic that made Hogwarts' ceiling look like the sky was replaced here by the water motif. The dominant element in the University palace was the water. Several rooms had waterfalls instead of walls.
Another thing that amazed her was the apparent lack of doors. There were some water arches, some ice arches and she even noticed some fog curtains, but no actual doors. The concentration of spells on square inch was tremendous.
*No more Alohamura* she smiled to herself.
Hermione managed to copy her program from a table of carved granite after she had asked a girl to read it aloud. Her translator apparently worked only on vocal command. She wanted to smack Oliver Wood's face for this little prank. She wanted to learn Arabic, but she needed some help in the beginning, not puerile jokes.
Totally absorbed in her schedule, she bumped into somebody.
"Excuse me" she said, with the hand on her wand out of the force of habit.
"I don't think that would work in here"
The amused voice belonged to Bill Weasley.
"I heard you were in town and wondered when I'd bump into you"
She noticed that the mask of humour in the face of a possibly embarrassing situation was a Weasley family trademark. She felt her heart leap at Ron's memory.
"So good to see a familiar face!"
Her surprise was not as well hidden as she thought.
"You had no idea that I teach here! I guess Ron doesn't brag about me as much as he used to"
"What do you teach?"
"Actually I'm filling in for somebody this semester. Scandinavian Spirituality. It's an optional subject. Well, that and Quidditch"
"Sounds very interesting"
"You are very polite. I didn't imagine you that way"
"I wasn't being polite" she argued.
"Ron told me about your attitude towards Divination. This is rather similar."
"Oh"
"Yes" he laughed. "The runes told me you'll have a cup of tea with an older man tonight"
"Really?"
"Honestly! Come on, what do you say? Pick you up at seven? I can show you Cairo!"
She had planned to "jump" to Gizeh tonight. Her pause only made him want her company even more.
*You can always go tomorrow* something inside tempted her to postpone visiting Madeleine.
"All right. I'll be ready. Can you escort me to my first class? I still haven't got the hang of the place"
"Milady, it would be my honour"
***********
The Potions lab was nothing like Snape's dungeons. The room was wide and very bright. Her teacher on the other hand, looked more sinister than Snape did in his worst days.
Haroun Ibn Amir Ibn Khalil was a small man, very thin, with a pronounced limp, a dark complexion and black hair. The left half of his face was badly burned, his left eye paralysed in a mocking wince and his arms were covered with signs of many experiments gone wrong.
Her translator was working properly, but his lecture was dull. The contrary of the adrenaline rush Snape's classes always brought. She could see the old man's lips moving in a foreign language, but into her mind she only heard English. This was disturbing.
*********
The Dark Arts class was somewhat more instructive. Due to her experiences with Harry battles as much as to her unrelenting curiosity, Hermione knew everything about the spells and rituals discussed, but she understood one thing very clearly: this class was called "Dark Arts" and not "Defence Against the Dark Arts" for a good reason. She was going to learn some serious stuff, not only defence and avoidance. This was going to be a true test for her.
**********
Over dinner, Hermione pestered Bill with hundreds of questions.
"Why did you say my wand wouldn't work?"
"Did you take a good look at this place? There are more spells embroidered into one room of that palace that in all of Hogwarts. This takes its toll on the magical abilities of the inhabitants. Only very powerful sorcerers are permitted to enter the palace. Most wands backfire in there"
"So, they do wandless magic?"
"Yes. But no one can cast powerful spells inside"
"That's the reason for the excessive magic?"
"Yeah. They didn't use defensive spells around the palace, but the decorative spells are very old, very strong and designed to draw the energy from any magical activity in the proximity"
"Clever devils, weren't they?"
"Very. They didn't last and flourish in the desert by accident"
"You seem quite impressed by them"
"I've seen some pretty impressive stuff around here"
"But you teach Scandinavian Spirituality"
"Hell yes! I'm very proud of my European background. The Scandinavian invaders have left profound marks in the British way we see life and magic"
"When Merlin lived, the pyramids were already old, that's the idea, right?"
"People had time to forget the hieroglyphs when we were still savages"
The evening went on like this into the night. Hermione found the conversation utterly stimulating. She had always enjoyed to look at the big picture.
******
She entered her room shortly after midnight. All she wanted was to get undressed and immerse her body into a tub of warm, scented water.
She looked at her feet and thanked Madeleine again for this Christmas present. The shoes spelled by Isis were the only thing that still felt comfortable.
She threw her skirt on the bed and unbuttoned her shirt, when she heard a voice from the dark depths of an armchair.
"Don't do that!"
She screamed and pulled the sheets from the bed, covering herself. Oliver Wood stood up from his cosy armchair and looked away, slightly embarrassed.
"What are you doing in my bedroom?" Hermione tried not to sound hysterical.
She hated acting like a child in front of him. She felt the constant need to make a good impression, to earn his respect.
"I came to talk to you" he coughed.
"Why didn't you say something sooner?"
"Because I fell asleep! You call this a reasonable time to get home?" he counterattacked.
"That's not your business!"
"You haven't read the fine print" he yawned.
"What fine print?"
"I am responsible for you. If you don't do your job here, it's my job on the line as well. If something happens to you… well, I don't want to get into that!"
"And what's the downside for me?" she tried to annoy him.
"That I am going to keep a close eye on you. I'm glad to see you've decided against the anti-apparition devices."
"I didn't. It's just that the spells are more difficult than I thought"
"Never thought I'd see the day when Hermione Granger finds a spell too difficult for her!"
"Not too difficult! Just trickier than I thought?"
"Anyway, you have mail"
He handed her a scroll. It didn't have the Morgana seal, as she expected, but Madeleine's.
"Did you read it?" she inquired suspiciously.
"No! I just took it from the owl. You didn't expect to let the poor beast to die of boredom waiting for you!"
"Don't be so hard on yourself. You're not that boring!" she paid back his reproach.
Sorry to stop in mid argue, but am very tired. Hope to spice things up tomorrow.
Thanks for the reviews Juvenus and Mrs. Biggerstaff!
Blackroseangel69, I hope you're still with me.