Chapter 45 Opening in Egypt
Professor Dumbledore decided that the scarab should be used to open the site that weekend. Dobby (as he still preferred to be called), as the owner of the scarab, was to go, as was Harry. Harry also insisted on Hermione coming along, and Dumbledore agreed. She fretted initially about missing study time for her second week of exams, but couldn't decline when Harry said he needed her support. She perked up when she realized how educational an experience the trip would be, and at least it was not her NEWT year.
They were met by Bill Weasley and the glamdrings of the three hullabaloos which together owned the site. Harry was rather amused at the sight of the three goblins dressed as midget Bedouins, but it served their needs. They walked to the site underneath a large flying carpet, which protected them all from the harsh desert sun; the goblins stayed at the very center of the shade. The storm sand had already long been removed and the sides of the excavation thoroughly braced.
Harry thought the building looked like a small stone house, or even a chapel. It was simple and pure, devoid of ornamentation, except an inscription which Bill said translated roughly as "the path to what is of great value." Dumbledore pulled out the scarab from the box and showed it to them. It was carved out of a large piece of amber which had a honeybee trapped inside. The bee looked like it could fly away right then, if only the amber were cut open. Dumbledore placed the scarab in the indentation above the lintel. The door glowed the green of new grass – a potent symbol of life in a desert land - and then swung open. They walked inside.
It was clearly very much a chapel, thought Harry. There were benches set at angles facing the dais at the front. They would seat perhaps two dozen people at a time. Standing on the dais without visible support was a tall slender pole – it appeared to be a very tall shepherd's staff - holding a single large ruby, as large as a snitch. Behind the table was a simple bare wall. The entire house looked as crisp and unworn as if it had been newly carved, and was perfectly white and pristine, except for the shepherd's staff and the ruby.
"There doesn't seem to be anything here, Professor," said Harry. "Is there some secret to getting whatever we're supposed to be here for?"
"Of course," said Dumbledore quietly. "The ancient Egyptians were sun-worshippers. See that little spot there in the ceiling above the ruby: it's a hole. Once we clear the sand out, the sunlight should illuminate the crystal, which will reveal the message, if any. That's why we came an hour before midday – we cannot be sure how long the sun will reveal the message."
Dumbledore gave a tap to the hole with his wand and, cupping his hands around his mouth, blew toward it – one puff, two puffs, three puffs. The third puff created a strong wind which swept through the hole, carrying all the sand out. Some light filtered down, but it was clearly not direct sunlight just yet. They closed the door and extinguished all their lights so they would be able to see. After a few minutes, a narrow shaft of sunlight shone through and struck the ruby, which began to glow, seemingly from within. Soon red letters began to appear on the far wall.
"English, Professor?" asked Hermione quietly.
"Enchanted – it displays its message in the language of anyone who views it."
As the letters grew more definite, Harry removed his glasses and wiped the smudges from them so he could see the words clearly when they were fully formed. He put them back on, and saw what was written so long ago:
TO ACHIEVE PEACE, PRACTICE FORGIVENESS AND GOODWILL
The goblins snorted in disgust. "All that gold spent, for nothing!" "No treasure here, not even a usable formula." "We can't even cut the ruby up since it's charmed." "What a waste!" They stretched out on the back benches to wait for their human companions to finish their examination of the message.
Bill nodded and said, "Hmm."
Hermione looked puzzled, and whispered to Dumbledore, "I expected a magical formula or incantation, Professor. It's a lovely idea, but what magical power is there?"
"It is not power in the sense of being able to transfigure objects or move things about – and most certainly not to hurt people. But it is a set of instructions, very difficult to follow fully, that leads to very deep magic."
"But we all already know this."
"Do we? Do we really know it? Everyone has heard it, or something very similar, Miss Granger. Far fewer espouse it, but how many of us actually live it, from within ourselves, relying on it as surely as we rely on the ground or the sun? None that I know of. We are all too busy in our petty concerns to see the things of great worth, both as common and profound as water. Why would such a worshipful place have been built, if people did not need to come to contemplate its meaning in the right frame of mind – to treat the instructions as more than mere platitudes? And why would it have been so well-protected, if not to try to ensure that those who find it do so with an intense hunger for wisdom? Look at Harry."
Harry had been standing like a statue ever since he had put his glasses back on. The only movement which betrayed that he was not petrified was a very rare blinking and the even rarer coursing of a tear down his cheeks. Hermione watched him in awe as he continued to gaze fervently at the message.
"He is receptive," whispered Dumbledore. "He has paid an enormous price to see these words, and peace is indeed what he most intensely desires. It will take him time to bring the message from his conscious mind to infuse the core of his being. If he succeeds, he will find a path to peace, which will connect him with power which can overcome any evil which might be found within any being. It is well that Voldemort did not get here first, not that he would have valued it, much less heeded it, but he would have destroyed it, like a large beast soiling a crystal-pure pool of water, rendering it unusable by those who come after."
"Professor, I know there was a prophecy about Harry, although I don't know just what it said – is this a part of it?"
"I'm not sure. I think it will guide and hasten Harry to what he needs to purify himself and unlock the power within, though he might also eventually have found it on his own."
"You speak of it filling his entire being, of living by these words, of purifying himself – it sounds like he is to become some sort of a … a holy man."
"There are worse terms for a person whose character is molded to benevolence."
"Is he to treat everyone like that – even Voldemort and the Death Eaters?"
Dumbledore closed his eyes and nodded, acknowledging both that it was true and that it was a monumental task to accomplish.
"But I thought Harry had to be a fighter: can Harry become like that and still be a fighter?"
"Do you think it incompatible for such a person to fight? Peace comes of strength, not of weakness. Would he not be practicing the greatest kindness to put a stop to Voldemort? Against great evil we do not show kindness or love by allowing ourselves to be slaughtered. Remember that a kind and gentle heart is not a sign of weakness but of an abiding strength."
"The problem for Harry has not been whether he can become powerful enough to oppose Voldemort, but whether he can maintain his soul in the process. Harry has for six years been coming to grips with the notion that he must face Voldemort. A very clever friend I had when I was a young man said 'Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster...for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.' Not everything he said should be heeded, but this is apropos."
"I hate to admit not understanding that, Professor."
"Harry has to face Voldemort: there has never been another choice. Voldemort is the monster Harry faces and the abyss into which Harry must stare. In attempting to vanquish him, Harry can either become like Voldemort or the very antithesis. He has known instinctually from the time he came to Hogwarts that he must choose either path, and that he preferred the path Tom Riddle could not find. His soul is open presently, and I believe he is following his better nature on the way opposite of that taken by Voldemort."
"I feel like I'm about to lose my friend," Hermione sniffled slightly.
"Not at all, he needs you and all of us he loves desperately. That's what keeps drawing him back from all the hurts he has borne. Don't misunderstand – he is not otherworldly and unlikely to become so, though in many ways he may come to stand apart. But he has been set apart for some time already. Still he has not and will not ever lose his need and love for those around him. I cannot see Harry ever becoming a hermit – that path is mere avoidance, almost a form of spiritual suicide, disengaging from the world. I was concerned he might choose that way in response to the prophecy and the dangers he exposes his friends to. Among the things he has learned this year is that he cannot sequester himself, but must be fully engaged in life. You have all done a marvelous job sticking by him. Harry understands very well that to love people you must spend time with them. A poet once wisely said, 'Time, oh give me time, for time is the lover's gift."
"Was that Browning? Or Shakespeare?"
Dumbledore smiled and winked at her. "Boy George."
Hermione suppressed a giggle in that reverent place, and then glanced at Harry to make sure she had not disturbed him. She whispered to Dumbledore, "That clown?"
"He has had his problems, no doubt, but there's not such a surplus of wisdom in the world that I'll refuse it wherever I find it. To profess love without spending time is hollow. Circumstances may interfere, but generally you give time to what you love, and as much as Harry has been trying to limit his emotional pain, virtually all of his time has been spent with and on behalf of all of you – all of us. No, Harry couldn't stand to abandon those he loves, and he is all the better for it, though he will bear pain that neither of us can imagine; yes, even myself, Miss Granger."
Hermione watched Harry for several more minutes and then whispered again to Dumbledore, "In talking with Harry about his visions of deaths, there is something I have noticed, Professor: he never seems to see his own."
"I have noticed that as well. He may not be sharing such visions, but I think rather that he does not dread his own death the way he fears it for others. He certainly has not shrunk from danger. It is his love for others, for us all, which has kept him with us, that he might protect us all from what would happen if he failed."
It was more than an hour and a half before the shifting of the sun caused the message to disappear. Harry did not appear to move a muscle in that whole time except to blink. When it finally faded, he turned to Dobby, Bill, Hermione and Dumbledore.
"We can go now."
