A/N: first of all: for questions like "will Harry go back to Ginny?" "Will he get his scar and memories back?" and "will Dumbledore come back?" I can give you only one answer: the story will have a happy end. I can't reveal more. (Especially not the gender and the name of the child – let it be a surprise.) Anyway, thanks for all the reviews!

Zenon Lee: Congratulations! You were the first who managed to realise that there was a domino effect in my story. (And a big thanks for writing that I'm among of those few who can rise up to Rowling!)

Reemaski: part of the article was true, another part wasn't. Dumbledore told it to the students in his speech.

Ariana Black: why is the Ministry so full of idiots? No idea, but Rowling wrote it that way, so I just did the same.

Hermione Gulliver: no, Sirius isn't wanted any more – I mentioned it in… chapter 4 or 5, I'm not sure. Now he is working together with Arthur Weasley – but it won't be important in the story.

PadmeSkywalker: sorry, I am letting Dumbledore leave. (But squashing Rita by someone's foot is really a good idea – though I'll deal with her another, not so spectacular way.)

Vanilla: how did I come up with it? Dunno… ideas just come to me…

gurlie409: of course Dumbledore is important! Don't ever think that I'm writing him out of the story! No way!!! You wrote that the thing about Egypt didn't make sense. Well, it will. Trust me, it will – you have no idea how much it will!

Hermione Granger: I'm glad that you found the dream hilarious. Does Ginny look too calm? Just wait until next chapter!!!

Super saya-Jin Gotan: no, Nagini won't be catching freezbees in mid-air. (Snakes cannot hop up from the ground, can they?) Thanks for you compliment on the story-line. You asked whether I planned it or improvised – well, of course I planned it! I spent many summer-nights sleepless, thinking about the plot.

Cindy Moon: in next chapter (this one won't have Ginny in it), Ginny will be almost three months pregnant.

Blaubärin ((are you German???)): yes, I am aware that the romance between Harry and Ginny developed too fast, but I couldn't leave more time for it, because this wasn't supposed to be a sappy love story, but a story with adventure, mystery and a bit of love. I also cannot really imagine Ginny seducing Harry, but I'd rather imagine her doing it than Harry. (Harry is just toooooo moral… he needed to be seduced, because he wouldn't initiate anything like that… and of course they needed to have a baby – that was my first idea when I decided to write this story. I told myself: "hey, make them conceive a baby, then just let it make a chain-reaction!" – And that's what I did.)

Basilisk: yes, Dumbledore did have a reason to act like that, but you might be disappointed now, that you have reached chapter 19, and I still haven't explained it. Be patient, I will explain it at the end of the story.

the coffee fiend: was the introduction of Lockhart a master stroke? *blushes* ((What does your HP cloak look like????))

Little Witch: in this chapter you'll get lots of Harry and Lockhart :-)

Chelsea: you don't think that Mrs. Weasley would send Harry a howler? Why not? She sent one to Ron, and all Ron did was fly a car. Harry - on the other side – impregnated her only daughter. I think she had all reasons to send him a howler.

joshs girl: good, we are both Aladdin fans! *big smile*

All right, in this chapter I'll be referring to The Mummy in certain ways, so I have to write the usual stuff: I don't own The Mummy, blah, blah, blah…

Enjoy!

Chapter 19

Diagnoses

The door of 77, Systematic Alley, opened to reveal a blue, ghost-like being, wearing armlets on his wrists.

"Um, hello." Harry greeted the bluish creature. "We're looking for Mr. Abysmal sun-Amun."

"English? You're speaking English!" the blue one yelled, clasping his hands with glee. "Finally someone whom I can talk to in English! Last year we had a French visitor, an exchange student from Beauxbatons! Oh, you can't imagine how wonderful it was for me to chat with her in French! And five years ago that Japanese sorcerer shogun… wow, it was cool! I love foreigners!"

"Abdul!" an irritated female voice came from behind the over-talkative creature. "I've told you several times to hold your tongue, you big blue oaf! You keep threatening guests away!" Abdul, the servant was suddenly pushed aside by an 18 or 19-year-old girl.

"Good evening, travellers, who have come from a faraway place." the girl bowed slightly. "I've heard you were British."

"Er, yeah." Harry shrugged. "Ms…"

"You may call me Sunny." the girl smiled, her black eyes glinting vividly. "Oh, come in, please, both of you."

"Gilderoy!" Harry turned to the blonde man, who was still muttering something about mummified cats.

"Huh?"

"Come, we are going in." the boy waved his hand. Lockhart followed him with an expression that suggested that he was not all there.

As they entered the house, Harry thought to have stepped into the magical cave of Aladdin. Persian carpets were lying everywhere, golden bowls and plates standing on every table and cupboard, pinkish and blue – almost see-through – veils hanging from the ceiling, and funny violet smoke filling the air.

"This way." the young woman told them. Abdul clapped his blue hands twice, and a door, decorated with golden sphinxes, opened.

"You may go now, Abdul. Prepare dinner for three."

As the blue being left, the girl sat down on a sofa. "Have a seat, please, dear visitors." she pointed her finger at another sofa that was covered with soft ornamental cushions.

Harry and Gilderoy sat down.

"I have to apologise for Abdul's behaviour." the girl said. "He's our house genie. Before us he belonged to some wizard who spent all his life drawing maps of the whole world. He took Abdul on his journeys and simply spoiled him. Now Abdul is constantly complaining that our family never leaves Egypt, thus he never has an opportunity to brush up on his Enlgish, French, Italian, Greek, Swaheli, Eskimo and Zulu. Please, don't get mad at him." she smiled.

"Oh, never." Harry replied. He wasn't expecting having to talk to an Egyptian witch (if Sunny was one at all), and a real genie. "Um, I guess we haven't even introduced ourselves yet. My friend is Gilderoy Lockhart, and he has selective amnesia. Now he is in the forgetting stage, but he might regain some of his memories any time. I don't remember my name, since I have total amnesia."

"And that's why you've come here." the girl gave them a knowing look.

Harry nodded. "Abu, stop that!" the monkey was just about to steal a banana.

"Oh, just let him have it!" Sunny smiled. "Back to your problem… I know that you've come to see my father, but he isn't here at the moment. He is working by the Great Pyramid and won't be back in the next two months. But I can take you to him if you wish."

"Would you do us the favour?" Harry asked.

"Of course."

"Really?" Gilderoy yelled. "We are saved, kid!"

"Just regained his memories – partially, hasn't he?" Sunny asked. She was familiar with such cases, since her father was the most famous international 'memory-back-lurer'.

"We are going to set off tomorrow morning." the girl said. "Abdul will take care of the house."

Harry heard a loud bang. Abdul has just dropped the golden plates filled with falafel. The genie was immediately 'rewarded' by a furious look of his young mistress.

"I'm sorry, Mistress Sunny." he trembled. "I'm going to make another dinner." he waved his blue hands, and the ruins of the dinner disappeared. Another wave with his hands, and the plates were clean again. A third wave and they were again filled with food.

Harry saw not only shame on the genie's blue face, but sorrow, too.

Poor Abdul, if they were to leave for Gizah the following day, the genie would be left without a chat-partner again.

* * * * *

Gilderoy was already fast asleep when Harry was still awake, standing on the small balcony of the sun-Amun house, gazing at the lights of Systematic Alley, and its side streets: Aton-amun Alla, Thot-Seth-Yallah and Nehbet-Ellah-Tefnut – aka. Theoretic Alley, Majestic Alley and Basic Alley. Every now and then he saw dark silhouettes fly by: wizards and witches returning from their workplaces on their magical carpets. Some of them held wands in their hands with a small light at the end (Harry felt proud that he knew this charm, and he'd got the trick of it without anyone's help.) These illuminated flying carpets reminded him of small planes with their landing lights aglow.

"Nice view, isn't it?" a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Yes, very nice." he smiled at sun-Amun's daughter. "Um, may I ask something?"

The girl nodded.

"Why are you called Sunny? It's an English word."

"Yeah, it is. I spent a year in Great Britain when I was a child. My father had to take part in a several months long international conference of wizards, held in the Ancient Magical Relic Department of your Ministry of Magic."

Harry raised an eyebrow. The expression 'Ministry of Magic' didn't sound strange to him – he must have heard it somewhere before, but he'd surely never heard of an Ancient Magical Relic Department.

"What does that department do?" he asked.

"Its task is to keep the Muggles from finding out anything about the magical properties of the ancient wizard relics they happen to find in the tombs. Also certain buildings belong to this category, for example Stonehenge in your country, those big face-statues on the Easter Islands, and the pyramids here. Dad is member of the Let's Save the Pyramids from Over-Curious Muggles League."

"Yes, I've heard about that league. Gilderoy told me. Is it difficult to protect the pyramids from the Muggles?"

The girl shrugged. "Sometimes… when they get too curious and decide to raid the pharaoh tombs. They've found 62 tombs in the Valley of the Kings, but 73 others are still unharmed – thanks to the good hiding charms of daddy and his comrades. When Howard Carter found the tomb of Tutanhamon, the Let's Save the Pyramids League was on strike, demanding higher wages from the local Ministry of Magic. None of them was protecting the Valley of the Kings during the strike - that's why Carter managed to find the tomb. After the strike my grandfather and three of his colleagues wanted to cast a memory charm on Carter and the other Egyptologists and hide the tomb again, but the news of the discovered tomb spread by light-speed, and of course grandpa couldn't wipe the memory of the whole Muggle society… Nowadays father is trying to protect the Kufu Pyramid from the raiders. A hard work it is." she stifled a yawn. "Oh, I'm so sleepy. You'd better also lie down, our carpet sets off 6 in the morning."

"Is it a regular flight or a charter one?"

"Neither. We are using our own carpet."

"Why do we have to go so early, then?" Harry wanted to know.

"Because two hours after sunrise the weather will be unbearably hot."

"Oh, of course." the boy nodded. He'd had enough of the heat back in the middle of the Sahara. "You still haven't answered my original question. Why is your name Sunny? It doesn't sound too Arabic to me."

"Oh, that…" she giggled. "My real name is Anck-sun-Amun. The Sunny comes from the middle-name, that's so simple."

"Anck-sun-Amun…" Harry repeated the name. He'd read it before – on a card in a chocolate frog, but of course didn't remember it.

"Yeah, one of my predecessors, about 4000 years ago had the same name. She was the pharaoh's wife, who had a passionate love affair with the high-priest Imhotep. Of course Anck-sun-Amun was a witch, and Imhotep was a wizard. When the pharaoh got Imhotep killed and cursed with the mummy-curse, he had no idea that it wasn't the real Imhotep he got cursed, only a decoy. The real high-priest and his lover escaped from Egypt and settled down in Greece. Their descendants founded the Delphic oracle. My ancestors came back here only a millennium ago. That's the big story. Now go and have some sleep."

"Okay, good night, Sunny."

* * * * *

Next morning – dawn, to be exact – the little trio (plus a monkey) set off for Gizah. Harry had never flown on a carpet before, and enjoyed it tremendously.

"Carpets are widely used in the Moslem wizarding world," Anck-sun-Amun explained, "but England has recently placed a ban on carpet imports, I heard."

"Why?" Harry asked, truly interested in everything that could fly.

"Why, why… because they are silly, that's why. They cannot appreciate a nice carpet woven with the handiwork of a hundred diligent witches… they prefer those ugly brooms!"

Harry didn't know what to answer – he didn't want to hurt Sunny's feelings.

During the rest of their flight, they were having a small talk about the weather (dry, absolutely no rain, hot, hot, hot, sweltering, unbearable), while Gilderoy kept complaining about having had to get up so early (I'll have dark shadows under my eyes!)

Harry and the girl exchanged amused glances. When Lockhart was about to start a lecture on the desert's negative effects on one's skin, the carpet braked sharply, and Gilderoy almost fell off it.

"What the…"

"Oh, we've just arrived at the gate of the tunnel." Sunny replied.

They were hovering before the entrance of a huge cave, at least two hundred other carpets floating in front of them. There were small ones – developed for one person only, and official ones too – one place for the driver, another for the interpreter (if needed), and a V.I.P. seat for distinguished guests. Some of the carpets were family transports – ribbons hanging from their fringes, Arabic words written on them.

"What does that funny text on the ribbons mean?" Harry got curious.

"It says baby on board." the girl answered. "Well, now we have to wait for about three hours to get through the tunnel."

"Three hours???" Gilderoy panicked. "Dark caves do no good to my skin!"

"Why do we have to fly through this tunnel?" Harry asked.

"Because this is the only way to arrive at the pyramids without getting noticed by the Muggles. The tunnel ends in a huge garage, where we can park the carpet and go outside looking like normal people. The Muggles have never noticed this cave, and charms are constantly used to see to it, that it never ever happens."

Three hours in the tunnel, moving only inch by inch forward, takes the edge off the best wizards, too, so the trio (plus a monkey) soon got bored and drowsy.

"What about playing a game of Exploding Snap?" Sunny suggested.

"Exploding Snap?" Harry looked up. "I've heard about that, I guess…"

"Of course you have." Gilderoy yawned. "You're a wizard. Told you that, haven't I?" he began arranging his locks – they looked pretty dishevelled. Desert seemed to have a bad influence on his skin and hairdo, either.

After four games of Snap, they heard some terrible noise coming from the opposite direction. The source of the terrible noise was a shocking pink bird perched on a carpet that whooshed past them at a tremendous speed. It had a flag with a red cross floating behind it.

((A/N: I don't know whether the Arabs have the red cross sign at all, or they have a red crescent moon or what… never mind, read on.))

"What was this?" Harry yelled, his hands pressed tightly on his ears.

"Thaaaat?" Anck-sun-Amun shouted back, her hands also on her ears. "It was a fwooper! A terrible bird with a terrible voice! They are usually sold with muting hexes, but some of them are used as sirens on ambulance-carpets." ((A/N: for fwooper see reference in Fantastic beasts and where to find them.))

"Aha…" Harry nodded as the sound of the fwooper died away. "What happened to that guy they were carrying in such a rush?"

"Oh…" the girl heaved a deep sigh. "I suppose it was the Cruciatus again… it happens daily now that You-Know-Who has regained his powers…"

"Cruciatus? You-Know-Who?" Harry looked bewildered. He didn't remember either of them.

"Let me explain…" Anck-sun-Amun began.

* * * * *

Twenty minutes later they finally arrived at an underground hangar.

They got off the carpet (Gilderoy needed to be yanked off it, since he asserted that dark caverns weren't as bad for his skin as the open Sahara air, and he'd rather wait for Abysmal in the hangar.)

Before going outside, Sunny put a padlock-charm on their carpet (even wizards were sometimes tempted to make off with each other's transports.)

As they stepped out of the cave (its exit camouflaged by an invisibility charm from the eyes of curious Muggles), an incredible sight appeared before Harry's eyes.

The Great Pyramids.

For a moment he only stood there, his mouth agape. He'd never seen anything this majestic before. (Though he had a feeling that he'd seen these ancient buildings somewhere else than on the Newsweek's pages. He just couldn't remember, where and when.)

"Like it?" the girl smiled.

"It's breathtaking." Harry replied. "Isn't it, Gilderoy?"

"Hmmm, they look good…" Lockhart said. "Almost as good as me."

The boy and the girl (plus the monkey) rolled their eyes.

"We'd better find your dad and tell him to give Gilderoy his memories back, because I don't think I could endure him any longer." Harry whispered to Anck-sun-Amun.

They walked past a range of bazaars (selling small pyramids, sphinxes and greeting cards for Muggles tourists), and entered the very last – and largest – tent. Merchants there seemed to be selling stuffed camels and fezes in all sizes and colours.

Sunny tiptoed to one of the merchants and covered his eyes with her hands from behind.

"Guess, who?" she snickered.

"Sunny! You little wildcat, what are you doing here?" the man laughed, turned around and gathered the girl's lithe body into a bear-like hug.

"Just dropped in, daddy." she smiled. "And brought two people, who need your help. One of them is allegedly your friend."

That was when Abysmal sun-Amun noticed Harry and Lockhart standing at the entrance of the tent.

"Gilderoy!" he yelled gleefully.

Lockhart blinked. "Who?"

"Amnesia?" Abysmal analysed the situation at once. "Hm, I see. Come in, my friend, have a seat. You too, young man." he beckoned to Harry.

Abysmal spent the rest of the day examining the cases of Lockhart and Harry. He sent his colleagues to 'take care' of his beloved pyramids for him.

After hours and hours of discussion with his two 'patients', Mr. sun-Amun managed to draw the conclusions.

"Well, dear Gilderoy, you don't need to worry at all. It seems to me that you'd been hit by a memory charm that you implemented with your own hands. Only when a memory charm falls back on its originator, does it cause amnesia like yours. I presume you didn't remember anything at first, and only later on did some pieces of memory start to come back. Am I right?"

Lockhart, who had got past his 'forgetting-stage' at about noon, nodded. "Exactly, Abys. Can you help me?"

"Of course I can." the other man assured him. "You'll have to stay here for a couple of months, though, for a thorough and gradual therapy. By spring, my friend, you'll remember everything. You should have come to me earlier."

"I would have," Gilderoy shrugged, "had I remembered you earlier."

"And… and me?" Harry asked.

Sunny's father turned to the boy, his smile immediately disappearing.

"Is it that bad?" Harry frowned, being able to read in facial expressions.

"A difficult case it is, my boy."

"Why?"

"I am convinced that you had been poisoned by the Teih-Nessegrev potion."

"And what does it mean in other words?" Harry queried, his voice trembling. He didn't have great expectations anymore.

"It means that I cannot help you." Abysmal sighed. "I'm sorry. This is a very mighty potion – the most difficult combination of a curse and a magic brew. It has no antidote, only one single remedy…"

"What?" Harry cut in.

"The Cruciatus curse…" sun-Amun sighed, and all the others in the tent gasped, "…implemented by…"

"By whom?" Harry asked with a pale face.

"By your best friend, son… your very best friend."