The Casting Stone

by Thing1

4/10: And in then end....

13. The Casting Stone 13

The Casting Stone 13

I had to stop at that last point – I needed to change views! But that guaranteed a two-chapter weekend, so a little forgiveness? Please? Thank you.

Draco and the others deal with the aftermath of Remus and Peter's disappearance through the mysterious Spelldoor. They focus on doing anything they can to get Jack to tell them something coherent, and, following what he does say, follow the others through the Spelldoor. There on the other side, Liz and Harry immediately leave for Cairo to meet Bill Weasley and see what help they can rally to aid in the capture Peter, while Draco, Sirius and Katie search for Remus at Ombos, the ancient stronghold of Set, Lord of the Northern Sky.

***

Draco struggled to stop his teeth from chattering in the wretched bitter cold of the stale water he was in up to his waist, and trying to ignore the piles of bones around him and Liz's warnings about the possibility of disturbing crocodiles hidden here. What an unceasingly awful day this has been, even if we have seen the last of the wretched Maccreedy. Draco tried to focus on being as confident as Katie had been that Remus was around here somewhere. Potter said to trust her instincts, and I guess he'd know. Damn it!

Draco came to a halt quickly to avoid stepping into yet another hole in the bottom of the tunnel he was making his way down. He'd discovered, by nearly falling into one of these pits earlier, that there were large openings on the tunnel floor hidden under the pitch-black water. Draco could only assume that they led into chambers beneath the level he was now on, but for all he knew really they could be other Spelldoors leading to gods knew where. The aura of darkness in this place was strong, and nothing would have surprised him. Feeling his temper getting worked up even further, he stood still for a few moments, trying to just calm down before once more inching his way slowly around the hole along the sides so he could get around and continue on. That meant getting right up against the catacombs again, and facing the vaguely grotesque mountains of ancient mummies that lined this place.

Look at it this way; considering what you've been through in your life, this is actually a bit of a lark, now isn't it? Dark lords, horrible curses, psychotic dark creatures – hardly anything new.

Draco turned his wand to softly illuminate the wall nearest him. He didn't dare make his light any brighter, in case there really were things to startle under the water or in the walls, and in the dimness the dusty old linens and bones browned with age seemed far more ghoulish and disturbing than they would have in the light of day. Draco knew that were it not for his current situation he would have cared less about them, but he was exhausted, chilled to the core, and terrified that they would never find Remus. He looked up at the gigantic statue nearby, one of the many that lined the huge tunnel and seemed to act as support pillars. Anubis. Helped to guide the dead to the underworld. The figure stood silently, its human arms raised over its jackal's head to hold up the ceiling, staring into the darkness. Draco kept expecting one of them to suddenly reach down and grab him.

Taking a deep breath, he walked over to the wall and felt around with his foot for the edge of the pit. Clinging to the edge of the catacomb, he carefully pulled himself around the hole to the other side, and then moved as quickly as he could back to the centre of the passage. Draco glanced behind him again, straining to see if his presence had been detected or if he had disturbed anything. Nothing moved in the darkness except the faint ripples of the water around him as he disturbed it with his movements. Exhaling, he turned forwards again to start back down the tunnel, checking again for any spells or traps that might be there. Glancing to his left, he could just make out that Charles was seated on the head of one particularly decrepit looking mummy.

"Get off that!" he whispered

Charles gave a faint gurgle, and then flew over to drape himself on Draco's shoulders. He had managed to coax Elvira into staying with Katie, but Charles refused to let him out of his sight. Oddly grateful for the companionship of the little griffin, Draco had stopped arguing with him and let him follow. Walking through the water again, through the seemingly endless tunnel of ancient remains, Draco reflected on how he'd ended up here in the first place.

***

Draco and Liz quietly made their way around the side of the temple, seeing nothing extraordinary and finding no spells or traps of any kind. Other than the enchanted statues at the entrance, there seemed nothing out of the ordinary at all. Finally at the far side they had met up with Katie and Harry.

"Anything?" asked Harry in low tones once they had come together.

Draco and Liz both said no, each sounding a little dejected.

"Right," said Katie. "Remus and Sirius have gone inside by now. I doubt they will have as uneventful a trip. Let's get back to the top to wait for them, shall we?"

Katie and Liz had taken the lead, retracing Liz and Draco's path up the left side of the complex. Draco and Harry followed, Draco seeing that Harry had a faint smile on his face.

"What?"

"I hope for the sake of whatever's here it doesn't do anything to Sirius or Remus."

Draco had to smile faintly himself at that comment as he looked at Katie and Liz moving ahead of them.

"Think we'll ever find such useful allies, Potter?"

"Allies?"

Draco frowned. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah. Well, we'll see won't we?"

Draco felt Harry looking at him and glanced over.

"What now?"

Harry shook his head. "Nothing."

Draco gave a grunt. "Right. And Weasley hasn't a freckle to his face."

Harry gave him a vague scowl, then his expression went neutral and he responded quietly.

"I guess I always thought you'd marry Pansy Parkinson and get on with … your life."

Draco sneered at Harry. "I challenge you to find a more vacuous and empty person on this planet, Potter."

"I was wrong. Sorry."

Draco sighed. I'm not going to get into it with him. There's no point. And Remus is right; we want the same things. What a bloody joke. Not knowing why he spoke, he did respond to Harry after a bit. "I was supposed to, I think. But then I was supposed to do a lot of things with my life."

Harry gave a wry grin at that. "I know the feeling."

"You did what was expected of you, Potter, did you not?"

Harry's face went tight at that comment, and he didn't look back at Draco. "Maybe. So now what; eh, Malfoy?"

Draco had nothing to say to this, so he went back to contemplating what the Spelldoors they suspected were here would be like. Draco knew of Spelldoors, of course, but he'd never seen one. Exceptionally dark magic; why 'respectable' wizards use portkeys, or just apparate. They all came to a halt at the top of the causeway leading into the temple, looking down at the entrance again. There was nothing unusual to see, and no strange sounds, although Draco felt that there was far more here than met the eye. He caught Liz's eye and motioned to speak with her. They stepped away from Katie and Harry to talk.

"What is it, Draco?"

"Liz, surely you feel this place."

"Yes. But I can see nothing. We'll just wait here like we told Sirius we would."

Gods forbid we upset Black, of course; such an excellent track record of making the 'right' decision, hasn't he? Draco felt a small twinge of guilt at that thought, and just responded to Liz in calm and neutral tones. Shut up about it, Malfoy. You know that Black would never let anything happen to Professor Lupin as long as he could stop it.

"Yes. Do you think the Spelldoors are inside?"

Liz hesitated before answering, looking back at the entrance to the temple. "I don't know. Sirius and Remus won't, unless compelled to, enter the doors without us. We need to wait for a while and see if they do come back. It makes me a little nervous that we haven't seen a sign of this 'caretaker' who is supposed to be here, except for the fact that these fires were lit."

"Those could be old spells, Liz."

"I know. But do you think that's all?"

Draco just shook his head.

"Neither do I." Liz hesitated here and looked closely at Draco. "Draco, don't let this get to you."

Draco now gave her a vaguely contemptuous stare, but Liz didn't blink. Bloody woman.

"Fine then, be that way."

Draco turned away and went to stand near the griffins, who had settled on a rock opposite the causeway. Strangely, they only looked at him, and made no sound. Usually they gave a squeak or a gurgle when he came to them, but they had made no noise at all since they had arrived at the island. Even these little monsters feel off-put here.

Before Draco could reflect on this further, however, the air around him plunged in temperature, and he spun around. To his horror, the statues of the jackals all stood up, and started howling and barking with oddly hollow sounding voices. Having never heard a jackal before, Draco had no idea this was perhaps what jackals really did sound like or if this was one more thing to worry about. He ran back to stand with the others, who stared at the jackals with equally amazed and trepidatious looks.

Still crying in their wild and unnatural chorus, the jackals started to leap from their stands, and ran into the forest, vanishing almost instantly in the trees. Moments later, Padfoot raced out of the small temple doors and gave a loud bark at them. Why is Black transformed?

Remus was only a few steps behind Padfoot. Draco saw him notice the empty diases first, then look up at their group at the end of the avenue. Before anyone said anything, though, Padfoot gave another bark and jumped onto the top of the wall and raced into the forest in the direction the jackals had gone. Remus followed him immediately, and Katie and Liz took off after them. Draco and Harry hesitated a few moments, still watching the temple entrance to see if anyone or anything came out after Remus and Sirius. Satisfied that this was not the case, they started to run as fast as they could after the others.

Draco wondered how they could all possibly keep track of each other in the dark in this thick forest until he saw that they did seem to be moving down a small cleared path much like the one on the other side of the island they had followed that afternoon. Good; none of us could possibly keep up with Padfoot and Professor Lupin. Draco had been startled to see just how fast Remus could move when he had taken off after Jack back on Paros. He knew in theory that werewolves had great strength and speed even in their human form, but he'd never seen Remus demonstrate this. Draco had realized that he had foolishly assumed that because Remus tended to look pale and move in an almost languorous fashion that he wasn't physically strong. Didn't father always warn you not to be taken in by appearances?

Liz and Katie were hardly slow themselves, he noted, as it took he and Harry longer than he expected to catch up to them. Draco had the distinct impression as he ran through the trees that there were other presences with them, but he saw nothing. The jackals? Or nerves, boy? Draco focused on catching up with Lupin and Black. He could now hear Padfoot barking just ahead of them, and then a scream that sounded very much like Jack?

Draco and Liz reached the edge of the small clearing just ahead of Katie and Harry. Draco could hardly believe his eyes. There stood Peter Pettigrew, his wand levelled at the unfortunate Jack, who was crying and struggling under whatever spell was being used to hold him. Hold him there or hold him back? There was a semi-circle of five archways, and Draco knew immediately that they had found their Spelldoors. Next to Jack was a small man about Pettigrew's height, but older than the others; Draco immediately felt that this was a very strong dark wizard, stronger even than his father had been.

"Peter!"

Pettigrew turned quickly to look at Remus, who was about 20 feet away from him directly ahead of Draco and Liz. Draco couldn't miss the furious expression on the man's face, nor did his miss the wave of fear that came from Pettigrew as he looked at Remus. Got you, you little bastard. Draco and Liz ran up to stand next to Remus, which distracted Pettigrew for a moment as he stared at Draco with a look now of total disbelief. Draco turned his head away, unwilling to look at the small wizard directly. He could feel himself start to shake with fury and anger, as all the emotions he had being trying so carefully to keep under control for so long came back instantly from that one moment of looking into Pettigrew's eyes.

But that was how he saw what was going to happen next. The older wizard saw Peter's attention falter, and with that he gave an unnatural and chilling snarl and moved to attack Peter. Draco responded without thinking, feeling the man's very clear intent of ripping Peter's throat out. No! He's no use dead! Draco threw his hands up and willed the stranger away.

Liz seemed to have the same reaction, and both of them acting together had the effect of throwing the man back violently away from Peter, and towards an archway at the end of the circle. Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw Pettigrew turn at that instant and make for the third archway, Remus after him at full speed, but he was too stunned to move again as he saw the older man suddenly pulled through the archway he had landed in front of and vanish completely. Draco only turned when he heard Harry scream Remus' name, and swung back to see Remus vanish just as the stranger had through the archway Pettigrew had been moving towards. Pettigrew had also vanished, and Draco assumed that he had deliberately gone through the Spelldoor.

Liz quickly leapt forward to stop Harry from following Remus, Katie grabbing his other arm.

"Harry! Wait – we've no idea where that goes or what it does!"

"Let go, Liz! We can't just stand here…."

"We're not going to stand here," Liz said in a very tightly controlled tone. "We are going to make sure we do the right thing. Okay? Katie?"

"I'm okay, Padfoot…." Katie sounded remarkably calm as she dropped Harry's other arm and turned to Padfoot. It seemed that Sirius struggled a bit in transforming back, but after a moment he stood in front of them again.

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure; that happened back in the temple. I was totally overcome with the urge to transform. But we're not going to discuss it now." Sirius spoke in a tone that Draco knew from experience absolutely forbade any debate on the subject.

Katie gave him a slight glare, then slowly walked around Sirius to get a closer look at the archway. There was a few moments where nobody moved, then Katie turned and walked over to Jack, who had stopped crying, and was standing there shaking his head and running his hands through his hair repeatedly.

"Jack?"

Jack looked at her suspiciously, and then glanced over his shoulder into the jungle.

"Yes, yes? You need to go too – they'll come soon, you know. You are not supposed to be here. It's not for you."

"Alright. Did you see Remus go into the door?"

"Door?"

"I'm sorry. The gate right there," Katie continued in a soft tone, pointing behind her to the third archway.

"Yes."

"Do you know where he went?"

Jack stared at the archway without saying anything for a time, shifting from one foot to the other and repeatedly crossing and uncrossing his arms. Draco felt like screaming watching this, and couldn't understand how Katie and Liz could stand there so calmly and just wait for the man to try and say anything. He finally turned away, and saw that Harry and Sirius had both done the same thing. Harry looked shaken, but calm. Sirius, however, looked awful and Draco could see he was fighting to hold back tears. Losing Pettigrew or losing Remus? Probably both.

Finally Jack spoke again, seeming to clear up a bit.

"Katie, right? Katie?"

"Yes, Jack. We want to follow Remus through that gate…."

"You need to be very careful."

"Yes, we know. Jack, you said before that you were the one who could read. What were you reading? I don't see anything here."

Draco realized she was trying to get Jack to show them where the incantations were to try and control the Spelldoor so they could all pass through it. It was very likely that Remus and Peter would not have ended up in the same place, since the door was not prepared for them properly. Draco prayed that this was not the type of spell that would simply kill anyone who breached it without preparation, but considering that Jack had been using them, that seemed unlikely as he was incapable of casting any spell. They let him through only because he's a dark creature, like Remus said.

Draco turned back around to go stand with Katie and Liz, looking at Jack. He had calmed down considerably, and Draco finally got a good look at him. At a distance one might not have known there was anything wrong with the man, really. He looked a little strange, standing there in a clean black wizard's robe that was obviously not his, but he didn't seem to really take any notice of his dress. Jack appeared to be only a few years older than himself and Harry, and was clean cut and looked reasonably healthy, considering his situation. Someone's been taking care of him, or helping him at least. He's a little scruffy right now, but considering what the last few days have been like for him, that's to be expected.

Jack was looking the third archway when Draco walked over. He jumped a bit when he noticed Draco, but this time he stood his ground and just eyed Draco nervously for a few moments before turning back at Katie.

"He wanted me to open it, you know, like the others. He figured out that this was the one he wanted; that the others, well, weren't."

"These all go to different places, then?"

Draco wondered where the dark wizard had disappeared to, and when he would be back. He saw Liz glance at the archway the wizard had disappeared into, then look at him for a moment. Draco raised an eyebrow and she nodded, then turned to smile at Jack.

"Jack, we know we aren't supposed to be here, and we would like to leave. But before we do, can you please show us what the other man, the one who hurt you, needed you to help with?"

Jack frowned at her, a puzzled expression on his face. "They both hurt me," he said in a very matter of fact voice.

Liz blinked, and tried again. "I'm sorry, Jack. The one with light hair."

Jack nodded and surprisingly gave a small smile. "It's all very interesting, really. Follow me."

Jack walked over to the far side of the small clearing, where they saw a small staircase leading underground. Liz took Sirius by the arm and they followed Jack into the corridor. Harry went behind them and Draco and Katie went last. They entered the tunnel, which was about 12 feet tall and 5 feet wide, made up of the same light coloured rock as the temple and the archways. There was a series of lamps hanging from the ceiling that burned pure red flames, casting the tunnel and the group in a sickening red glow that made Draco think they all seemed bathed in blood. How delightful.

They walked in silence for a while, and then came to another staircase. They climbed up and Draco assumed that they were now in the temple, as they entered a large room covered with reliefs. Huge ornate stone torches stood next to each pillar supporting the roof high above them.

Jack went over to stand in front of the large back wall, which was covered with giant figures and various scenes of cult activity as well as band upon band of hireoglyphs. Liz, Sirius and Harry immediately went to stand with him, but Draco saw Katie hesitate for a moment and rub her eyes.

"Katie?"

"What is it, Draco?"

"I'm…I'm sure the professor is fine."

"Yes."

Draco looked at her quietly. "You alright?

Katie looked at him. "Yes, Draco, thank you. Really. I'll be happier once we catch up to him, of course." She gave a small smile. "Are you alright?"

Draco felt his face tighten and he opened his mouth to give his customarily terse retort, but hesitated.

"I don't know," he finally said. He didn't know what else to say after that and just shook his head. Katie nodded, but still had a faint smile.

"Remus is a very hard man to stop, Draco. Come on."

Jack had started talking in low tones, pointing at various figures. Sirius asked him a few questions, and Jack seemed pleased that Sirius knew what he was talking about. Draco found himself wondering how on earth this man could possibly understand all of this, when Harry jumped in and asked the same question out loud.

"Jack? Where did you learn all of this?"

"I've been here reading it for a long time. I study all this you know; yes. I study all of this, and someday I'll teach it."

Draco had a realization, and he looked over at Jack slowly. Sirius caught his eye and walked over.

"Draco, Remus and I already figured out that this is very likely the American student who disappeared in Nafplion three years ago. You already know that Peter chased him there and was following him, now we know exactly why."

"Black, how can that man possibly have lived this long?"

"Don't know, but there is a possibility that it has something to do with the caretaker wizard. He's a werewolf too; I don't know if you picked up on that before he vanished. He's got to be the one who made Jack because he made comments about getting into trouble when he 'did what he did' and he was livid at Wormtail for 'trying to take what's mine', which I'm assuming is Jack. This looks like a pretty miserable place to live alone, doesn't it?"

Draco nodded.

"There's something very important going on around here with werewolves, and I think, I think that Remus is going to be just fine because the old wizard also made a comment that Remus and the others were 'untouchable'. So let's just get Jack there to show us exactly the spell we need and get the hell off this bloody island and find Remus and Wormtail. I'm hoping we'll get to wherever it is and find Remus sitting there waiting for us with that rat tied up at his feet."

Draco had to give a wry smile. "Well, Black, hope springs eternal."

Sirius returned his smile for an instant then turned back to the rest of the group. "Jack, this temple is for Set and I can see that a lot of this is about him, correct?"

Jack nodded. He actually seemed to have cheered up and was now happily describing the temple writings in detail.

"There are a lot of misconceptions about Set, you know. But he's been changed a lot over the years. This is the only real temple, only real original temple I should say, that has so many of his mysteries. But this is not his main temple, you know. No, no. That's where the gate will take you. Well, the proper gate."

"Did the light-haired wizard take the proper gate?"

"Yes. He made me…made me…."

"Made you what, sweetheart?" said Katie lightly.

Jack led them to the centre section of the wall, and started gesturing at the figures there. Draco could see the strange figure of Set standing surrounded by other gods and goddesses.

"Set was a god of the First Time. He is seen as controlling the reversal of things, of breaking the orderly flow of nature, and later of law and order. He is also the god of enemies and of strife. That's why he's called the god of storms, because since he has power over the flow of nature, he could stop the storms."

That sounds like a powerful wizard to me.

"Because of his ties to the cycles of nature, he's considered to be most powerful at the time of the full moon, and that's when sacrifices were made to appease him and hold him back."

Draco caught Sirius' eye at that comment. Seems you're right about the werewolves, Black. I thought maybe it was just a chance that the wizard here was a wolf, but this suggests it's not a coincidence at all.

Jack motioned for them to come right up to the wall and pointed at a series of long characters that Draco could just recognize as spells. Sirius' face lit up when he saw them and he reached over to take something from Liz's pack, but said nothing while Jack continued to speak. "Ombos was Set's home in early times. But when the Ptolemies took over, they rebuilt and rededicated the temple for Set that Hatshepsut had rebuilt, and dedicated it to Sobek and Horus instead."

Sirius looked back up at that. "Jack, when did that happen?"

"After Alexander the Great gave Egypt to Ptolemy and he founded his dynasty. Around 332 BC. But interestingly enough, it was the Ptolemies who restored some of Set's powers to him. The ones that had been taken during the time of the Pharaohs, the time of the pyramids and everything most people are familiar with. Set fell into deep disgrace as the cult of Osiris became paramount, and Set became the dark god. His, um, better qualities were given to other gods. Take magic for instance."

There was a collective start from the whole group when Jack said this, but he didn't seem to notice and went on.

"Set was the original god of magic. But when he became the dark god, Thoth was named the god of magic and worshiped instead. Once the Ptolemies took over, however, Set again became the god of sorcery. In fact, after 'Hermes', the Greek god of magic, the most invoked name in magical texts of the time is 'Set'."

"He was used mostly to send spirit helpers to men; usually something that flew so it could travel well, birds and such, you know. Then he was also the god of dreams, and would send messages in dreams. And lastly, because he was still seen as rather dangerous, he was also the god you invoked to vanquish your enemies. To make you invincible against them. See this here? This is a reference that I've found all over the place to a special talisman Set had that was supposed to invoke all of his powers. There is no mention of it making you invincible in battle in any of these writings, but these are much, much older than the Ptolemies. There are any number of warnings to be sure you know what you want if you go to ask Set for help. But here's what's important, what the wizard wanted, what you need. This here is a description of where to find the talisman at Ombos. That's where the gate will take you," he continued now moving to another wall where Draco could clearly see a depiction of five archways.

"The little man thought that this was all he needed to know the first time. That's why he got so mad at me, because I let him think that. That's when he made me read all those writings I just showed you over there."

Draco leaned up against the pillar nearest to him, trying to absorb all that Jack had just told them. I sincerely hope this all makes more sense to Black. I'm assuming that those were the opening spells he was writing down back there. I do not want to end my days trapped here, nor do I want to be cast through some ancient old spell into certain death. What a night. He looked at Harry and saw that Harry was also as surprised as he was by all of this information. Harry caught him looking at him and came over to speak with him quietly.

"Malfoy, is all of that sinking in?"

"Mostly. I suppose we should be pleased that we have definitely come to the right place, but I'm getting rather nervous now about what's really waiting on the other side of that Spelldoor. Other than Professor Lupin."

Harry looked at him and nodded. "Why do you think Sirius was so surprised when Jack said that the Ptolemies had been responsible for bringing back a lot of the spells associated with Set?"

Draco shrugged and looked over at Sirius who was whispering to Liz and Katie about something. "I don't know. But that last bit seems to be the most important. Set was supposed to have the power to make you invincible against your enemies."

"The Casting Stone."

"The Casting Stone Professor Lupin seems utterly convinced is a myth, and nothing more."

Harry gave a faint smile. "Malfoy, let me tell you something about Remus I don't think you've figured out yet. You do know that Remus isn't keen on people jumping to conclusions. I sure you can appreciate that."

Draco gave a small grunt.

"But he is also very adaptable. Trust me, if we turn a corner and see the damn Stone, Remus will be the first to tell us not to touch it. He just doesn't want you or anyone wasting effort on speculating about things that are not directly related to what we're really here for, and that's getting Wormtail. If we find this thing, if it's real, then he'll just deal with it once we get there."

Sirius walked over to collect them. "Let's go. Now. I'm assuming we haven't seen the other wolf come back because he was stunned by Liz and Draco when he was pulled through that door. But its been a while and I'm sure he knows exactly how to get back once he wakes up. I've got the incantation we need to guarantee that we will pass through the Spelldoor and not get separated by it."

They all started back down the tunnel leading to the Spelldoors, Sirius in the lead and continuing to talk even as his pace quickened.

"I have a feeling that Remus and Peter may have ended up at least in the same general vicinity of each other, based on the warnings back there not to go playing with things that you aren't prepared to handle. Liz, correct me here if need be, but if I were a dark wizard with that sort of information, I wouldn't be wasting my time on overly complicated Spelldoors, since what's on the other side is bad enough."

"Good summary, Mr. Black."

"Thank you, Miss Harker, though I'm not sure what comfort that offers. Hey!" Sirius suddenly came to a halt, and looked at the floor.

"Draco! These are yours, are they not?"

Sirius bent down to pick up the Griffins, then handed them to Draco.

"Draco, keep a firm hold on them unless you want to leave them here. The only way they're getting out of here is through the door, just like us. And they are not going to like it. I would even go so far as to suggest you bind their feet while we do this or you might get a little torn up."

They started back up the tunnel, Draco reluctantly agreeing with Black that he's better do something to restrain them or he would be in trouble. He looked over his shoulder to see Jack staring at the griffins. Can he see them?

"What are those?"

"Just some small creatures I am responsible for, no matter."

"They look like dragons or something!"

Draco thought they didn't look remotely like a dragon, but considering that the man was a Muggle, and an unbalanced one at that, arguing with him seemed a little ridiculous. Well, he knows they're different. Draco suddenly felt sorry for the man for the first time. What on earth is it like living as he does? How does he possibly put one foot in front of the other? He seemed very happy and almost calm back there going on about the Egyptians, but if he was a student, I guess to him that is the only 'normal' and familiar thing left in his life. The only thing left to hang onto as the curse slowly kills him….Draco felt his anger start to flare up again, and abruptly forced himself to stop thinking about anything except finding Remus again. The one good and familiar thing I have to make sense out of my bloody life.

***

Draco's thoughts returned to the present as he finally came to the end of the submerged tunnel and found a staircase leading upwards. He glanced at his watch, making sure he still had time to move forward before having to go back and meet with the others. There had been a debate over how wise it was to split up and search the complex versus how valuable time was in locating Remus or even Peter and getting out before the caretaker followed them, bringing with him gods knew what. Finally Katie had insisted on timed excursions, each of them taking a separate path and agreeing to be back at this spot in exactly two hours, no questions. If you were not back at that time, then the others would come looking. Sirius seemed to struggle with this a bit, but finally gave in and vanished down one of the corridors. Draco sensed he was debating weather to defer to Katie, considering the situation, or keep her in sight in case anything happened and then he had to face Remus afterwards. I cannot imagine why those two even feel a remote need to coddle that woman. She could best them both any day of the week.

He climbed out of the water and waved his wand over his trousers to dry them, grateful to be out of the foul water and back on a dry surface. How I ended up picking the corridor that led underground I'll never know. Just my bloody luck. He felt a brief twinge of jealousy that Potter and Liz had gone to Cairo and missed all of this, but part of him knew that Harry couldn't be very pleased about leaving before he knew Remus was alright. Liz had herself reluctantly said, once they all stood together at the vast entrance to the Ombos temple the Spelldoor took them to, that she and Harry should go immediately to Cairo to see Bill Weasley.

"We've got a little less than a month left to find Pettigrew. I think, learning what we did back there on that island, we need to take the idea of the Casting Stone very seriously. There is something that may be uncovered that we truly don't want found."

Sirius just shook his head at that and sighed. Then he gave Liz a small kiss and turned away to walk closer to the temple.

"Take care, Miss Harker. We'll meet back up with you here in Ombos as soon as possible. Give my best to Bill."

Draco knew Sirius' seemingly glib attitude was a cover, but it annoyed him for some reason. Draco just felt like it was all getting to be too much. Like the temple on the island, this place too was heavy with dark magic. He tried to keep Liz's favourite admonition in mind, that dark magic doesn't necessarily mean dark purpose, but his own experience seemed to just force him to treat that as mere words that meant absolutely nothing, even if Liz herself was clear evidence of the fact. As is Professor Lupin.

Draco hurried up the steps, keeping an eye out for hexes or spells, and telling Charles to stay behind him. Finally, he reached the top where he found a pair of doors made of what appeared to be solid silver. To keep werewolves out or in? He raised his wand and said a deliberately weak spell to see if the doors were at all charmed to repel magic. Nothing happened, so Draco said a more powerful spell. The doors shuddered for a moment, then swung wide, and Draco stepped through them to find himself standing in what seemed to be a large room in the temple.

He glanced around to see if maybe Katie or Black had reached this place, as they had taken corridors at the entrance that probably should have led right through here. There was absolutely no sound or any movement. Draco increased the illumination of his wand, no longer caring if he startled anything but feeling oddly claustrophobic in the total darkness of the vast room and unable to see more than ten feet in any direction.

"Professor?"

Silence.

"PROFESOR LUPIN!"

Draco suddenly stopped and just stood there, shaking, completely frustrated and terrified. This cannot happen. He almost missed hearing his name called out from the darkness ahead of him.

"Draco?"

Draco's head came up at that and he moved forward deeper into the room. That was Remus….

"Professor? Where are you? Can you see my light at all?"

Draco strained to see anything, and then he heard the unmistakable sounds of footsteps coming towards him. He was surprised to find he was holding his breath, and exhaled loudly when Remus suddenly appeared in front of him out of the darkness.

"Draco! Well, I am glad to see you. And Charles! Where are the others?"

Draco stared at him. Remus was covered in dust, but otherwise looked the same as ever. He was even smiling slightly. Draco couldn't take it anymore; he felt his chest tighten and his pulse quicken as the familiar sensation of a panic attack came over him. Stop it, Malfoy; I thought you'd grown out of this!

"Draco! What's wrong?"

"Nothing! Everyone's fine, if more than a little startled and put out. We need to be getting back out, as we've promised Katie to be back at a certain time, and you know she doesn't like being put out."

Remus gave a small laugh at this and nodded, then pointed behind him. "That's the back of the temple. I know because I've just been in a chamber that was clearly the main altar room. I've no idea how long I've been here…."

"About two hours, Sir," said Draco tersely, still struggling a bit. Remus looked at him quietly, and then reached out to give his shoulder a slight pat. Draco couldn't help but jump at the unexpected touch, but Remus didn't flinch at this.

"Draco, let's go find Katie shall we? There's no trace of Peter in here. I think the Spelldoor separated us, since we weren't prepared to go through it together."

Draco nodded. "Exactly. Right again, professor."

"Just experienced with this sort of thing. Any leads, though, on where Peter may have ended up?"

"Not exactly. Let's get back. Mrs. Lupin's brave face can only hold out for so long I think."

"Never underestimate Katie, Draco. Trust me."

Draco didn't reply and let Remus take the lead as they turned to go.

"How did you get here, Draco?"

Draco pointed at the silver doors. "There is an ossuary under this complex that I came through. However, it is flooded. And rather disgusting. I would prefer that we see if we cannot simply leave this complex by the front, although I can vouch that there are no spells or hexes down there that would impede our exit."

Remus looked at the doors for a moment, then turned back to Draco. "Sounds rather nasty. I don't think that we're going to have a problem with leaving by the front doors here, as I think we're in a 'public' area of the temple. The real rooms of worship are hidden elsewhere, or in another complex entirely. I certainly wouldn't have expected the Spelldoors to do anything as convenient as taking us exactly where we needed to be. Not very prudent of the spellcasters if they had, what?"

Draco had to agree with this, and was just relieved in general that he didn't need to go back down to that dreadful place that was so choked with death. They moved forward through a series of smaller rooms, keeping to the left wall at all times so they wouldn't loose their bearings, and discussing what had happened on the island. Draco explained to Remus Katie had tried to convince Jack to come with them, but he refused. They had not seen the other werewolf reappear, but that could mean anything After about 20 minutes they stopped in one corridor that offered them two passages to decide which way to go.

Remus studied the wall next to him for a moment.

"Can you read any of this yet, Draco? I seem to remember you being a very fast study when you had your mind to it."

Draco did smile at him slightly. "Thank you. Just bits and pieces, hardly Black's level." Draco glanced at the wall. "There are some obvious common words I can pick out…."

"Even I recognize 'Set' by now," commented Remus with a sigh, and Draco had to laugh quietly.

"Yes, we've all got that one down now. Here, this is a common word. Nefer. Means 'beautiful'; though what in this place they are referring to as beautiful escapes me entirely."

Remus gave him an odd look. "Nefer means beautiful? Draco, do you know what mat means?"

"Another common word. Means 'death'. In fact, this is it right here, next to nefer. Now it makes sense, I suppose. Where else but in a temple to a dark god with a gigantic ossuary would anyone think to write about 'beautiful death'."

Draco glanced back at Remus as was surprised to see that he had gone a little pale, and was staring at the wall with an odd look.

"Professor?"

Remus didn't acknowledge him for a few moments, and then he looked over at him with a closed expression.

"Draco, the older werewolf back at the island said that he, Jack and myself were untouchable to the Servant of the Lord of the Northern sky; he said we were 'nefer-mat'. I don't think that this panel is talking about the bodies here in this place. Not like you might think, at least. These may be…" Remus hesitated, and seemed to be struggling with something. He finally spoke again in a quiet voice, although Draco heard the anger in it. "I think," continued Remus, pointing at the bottom of the wall, "that this is talking about werewolves." Draco saw that there the relief showed the now all to familiar endless line of running jackals. Or what we thought were jackals….

Draco turned his attention back to the writing. Set is part of something to do with werewolves. Jack did tell us Set was supposed to be at the height of his powers on the night of the full moon. It makes perfect sense; this is such a dark place, and what is darker, or more cursed, than a werewolf? Draco instantly felt ashamed at that thought; who in his life but a werewolf had ever shown him any real kindness or even friendship? Liz told you; she said we choose to be what we want to be, or what we don't want to be. I don't want to be lost.

"Professor?"

Remus raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"Do you think that perhaps your curse is attributable to this wizard?" Draco hesitated, not sure what else to say. Remus didn't move or say anything, but Draco could tell by the shadow that had come into his eyes that Remus was giving that idea some thought.

"Sir, I'm sorry."

Remus was surprised at this. "Whatever for, Draco?"

Draco couldn't think why he'd said that. For everything? For what you have to live with? I don't know…. He felt his anger well up again as he struggled, once more, to gain some sort of control over his feelings and his thoughts. I am not, not, going to be broken. I am not going to let anything break me ever again. Draco finally shook his head roughly and stared back at Remus with a cold and dark expression, feeling his body tense up again and his face set in his familiar scowl.

Remus watched him, then nodded, but said nothing and didn't smile. Finally he stepped back and motioned for Draco to move away.

"Draco, how close are we to the entrance, do you think?"

Draco shook his head. "I've no idea, really."

Remus took his wand and muttered a spell under his breath. Draco felt a rush of cold energy move through him at the words, but saw nothing happen.

"Sir?"

Remus put his wand back in his pocket and pointed at the door on their right. "Let's go, Draco. Katie will be starting to fret, I think."

A/N for the curious only: One of my mates asked if I was going to publish a teachers' edition to this yarn to clarify what was historical fact & current scholastic conjecture and what was my own fevered imagination. It's actually very simple; all of the historical and mythological references are fact, except the connections between Alexander the Great and the magicians (although that might explain how he got away with so much, wouldn't it?) and Set and werewolves. That's mine, but it is driven by the import of canine figures in Egyptian myth. More on that going forward…. The Upper Egyptian town of Ombos was the pre-dynastic seat of Set; Hatshepsut did rebuild a temple to him there, and the Ptolemies did replace that with a temple to Sobek, the crocodile god. I've been to Sobek's temple, and the hieroglyphics there depicting various medical procedures of the day will make you never again take your modern physician's name in vain, no matter how long you wait to see them. I've also had the 'pleasure' of being surrounded by mummies in an underground complex with only a single light bulb for illumination– captivating and hopelessly romantic (in the Byronic not the emotional sense) but brrrr! In a discussion of what's real and what's not, Draco's observations are definitely my own feelings on that experience. You can not help but stare at the bodies and the writings and think you are in way over your head.

Set (also called Seth, she says, grinning at her friend of the same name who is not amused) was the god of magic until the pharonic dynasties came into power and the Cult of Osiris took over, and Set did see a revival as the god of Sorcerers during the Ptolemaic times. And an amusing fact - the home of the Set cult in Lower Egypt was Tanis. Recognize that name? Here's a hint… really important in 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'. I'm avoiding Tanis for that reason, and for the fact that the 'original' Set is more important here than the 'later' Set.

Must dash to pre-order my copy of "Quidditch Through the Ages" on BandN.com.