Chapter Twelve: Camelot
Wednesday, 15th September 1999.
Luna stretched eagerly, a kink in her back clicking and letting sweet relief spread through her side. It had taken hours to adequately sort through all the items in the library basement while Hermione and Padma had interfaced the link that would allow them to transfer the moderum's database through the wormhole and back to the Lab. Given the fact ascended beings had interfered once before, they were taking no chances with this attempt, keeping everything where they were sure it would be safe on earth.
Richard was perched in the corner reading one of the many books from upstairs as she clicked the trunk closed. The others except for Harry were upstairs digging through the library as well and she sighed softly at the fact they had all spent the entire night rummaging through both floors. Most of what they had packed away would simply join the other bits and pieces at Gringotts, but some of the items would be taken to Fundamenta for further study.
Right now, however, she was feeling the effects of their long day's work, and Luna was keen to get back home, have a nice meal and a lie-down.
"All packed up here. Are you two done yet?" She asked Padma who glanced at her from over the top of the moderum.
"Almost. Another few minutes at most." The girl replied and Luna smirked to herself.
"Meaning you finished the interface an hour ago and are just studying the design of the internals?" Padma blushed slightly and Luna heard Hermione's head clip the edge of the massive device as she emerged from underneath, also looking a little red in the face and rubbing her head. "Thought so."
Luna tapped the massive chest with her wand and it levitated into the air, hovering along behind her thanks to the enchantments that Padma and Hermione had woven into its structure. It was also featherlight normally, but Luna wasn't keen to test the limits of that particular enchantment while it was full to the brim with cargo.
"Would you be so kind as to give me a hand getting this back upstairs, Richard?" Luna asked as she approached the man, who glanced up from the book, sticking a bookmark about halfway through the wide tome.
"Of course, Luna." He agreed, tucking the book into his own shoulder bag as he stood and walked towards the hovering box.
Luna skipped up the stairs and waved her wand at the trunk, slowly pulling it up the steep stairway as Richard pushed it from behind, aiding her work. With a bit of difficulty, they managed to turn it in the narrow corner of the tunnel and head out into the library where she found Neville in a nearby seat breathing heavily, a book resting on his face.
She walked past silently, rolling her eyes when she heard a sharp snap and turned to see Richard had flicked the spine of the book with his finger and Neville snorted awake, tumbling off the chair in the process.
Harry glanced up at them from his place beside Natalie, who simply tucked a bookmark into her own reading before slowly looking at her husband. "Really, dear. Play nice."
"It's time to go, surely you lot are as tired as the rest of us." He defended with a smirk, glancing at the blinking boy on the floor. "Though, maybe not."
"I'm awake," Neville said, shaking the last remnants of sleep from his body.
"How far do you think we can apparate this thing? We'd look somewhat suspicious, guiding it out of the village between us all." Luna asked, tapping the lid of the chest.
Harry stood and tucked a couple of books into his shoulder bag as he walked over to her. He reached into the inside pocket of his top and pulled out a very familiar cloak, draping it over the hovering box, the edges just shy of scraping the floor. He waggled his eyebrows at her and with a light crack, apparated away with the pair of enchanted items.
"I guess that is our cue?" Hermione mumbled, stepping out of the tunnel, Padma close behind her, and offered Neville a hand back to his feet.
"Looks like." Natalie agreed, taking a few armfuls of books and tucking them into each person's bag. "We can come back later for more."
A rampant beeping sounded on their wrist remotes and they all glanced down to see an urgent message from Harry advising them to hurry.
"Looks like we reactivated the security system correctly," Padma noted as they heard a scream coming from outside.
Luna took Natalie's hand and saw Hermione hold her father's and they quickly turned in place, apparating straight out of the village and onto the wide road they had seen heading off into the distance as they approached the day before. The group hurried along the dirt track until they noticed Harry hidden among the trees near the unused path to the Astria Porta.
"Sounds like the Knight came out before you left." He said as they approached. "At least that will keep everyone away from the library for the time being."
Hermione prodded his arm in disapproval but the group continued on, Neville and Richard gently pushing the large trunk in front of them as they walked briskly along the grassy path. Luna felt her fatigue building now as the Porta came into view and she smiled at the prospect of getting some rest.
Without warning, a wave of shimmering energy that shot out from the nearby trees hit Natalie squarely with the full blast, throwing her several feet off the pathway, landing heavily in the nearby longer grass. Luna was startled out of her stupor as Richard growled and pulled his weapon, quickly firing off a half dozen shots into the treeline.
The group scattered and drew wands and weapons, several of them firing blindly into the trees. Luna let her mind still and tried to allow what natural magic this world might possess to guide her hand. She felt the urge a moment before her wand came up and a powerful shield filled the air in front of her as a second wave of shimmering air blasted against it making a resounding clash of energy. She felt her footing give as she tumbled over from the force and a dark figure in a shiny cloak swept out of the trees near her position.
The boys noticed the movement and began firing on the figure but some sort of golden energy blocked the shots, some bouncing off harmlessly while others rang loudly against the energy field. The figure looked over them and laughed, the thick ichorish sound horrible and evil as it filled her ears.
Luna felt the impact as one of the weapon blasts hit the ground by the shield and kicked up a bunch of debris. She noted that the debris passed right through the golden shield and an idea struck her. She tucked her wand away and pulled the latch on her shoulder bag. Rolling across the grass, she disappeared into the wavy lengths as she crawled about behind the sinister figure. She heard the continuing sound of the boys firing on the figure and with a howl of horrible pain, she saw the golden shimmer give way, the shield falling to the sustained fire.
"You fools. I cannot be killed. Kneel or die!" The figure growled and the boys stopped their firing for a moment.
Luna poked her head above the grass and Harry's eyes flicked to her for a second before he fired off several powerful shots at the figure's arms and legs, most of them finding purchase and shredding the figure's cloak.
Neville and Richard also fired off a few as she snuck closer from behind and as the figure gave another horrible howl, she stood as the others ceased firing. With a quick leap, Luna brought the bag quickly down, the books tumbling out as the opening swallowed the figure whole as wispy black smoke seemed to be trying to escape the ruined cloak. As she and the bag hit the ground with a thud, Luna quickly sealed the opening, cutting off the screaming sound within.
She lay on the ground panting heavily as Hermione rushed past, heading for the spot where Natalie had landed and Padma knelt down by her side. "Are you ok?"
"A bit winded, but I'll be fine. How is Natalie?" Luna replied, ignoring the throbbing in her head and arm.
"She's banged up pretty bad." Hermione's voice came from the grass nearby. "Let's get home now."
"Dialing now," Harry shouted, as he worked the remote on his wrist and the Astria Porta lit up, the wormhole filling its aperture like usual.
Padma helped Luna to her feet and the wee girl kept the sealed bag held out in front of her, somewhat afraid to put it down. She glanced to her right and saw Hermione levitating her mother as Richard stood beside her, holding the unconscious woman's hand. Harry and Neville rushed over to them and Harry helped Hermione aid her parents back through to Fundamenta.
Neville placed his arm under Luna's shoulder and took her weight onto himself. Her wand arm ached painfully as it lay across his back. She didn't feel she truly needed the help but welcomed it nonetheless.
"What about the chest?" Padma asked and Neville paused, reaching into his pocket and throwing something small and grey into the air.
A second one quickly joined it and the two vultus tucked in behind the chest and began to push it forwards, heading for the open wormhole.
"That works." Luna smiled as she hobbled through the Porta with the others' help.
A moment after they had passed through, the event horizon shimmered as an invisible rectangular item passed through, coming to rest as two small spheres lifted out from behind it and whisked through the open door back into the dispenser.
Luna fell to her knees in front of the Porta as it shut off and Neville dropped down to her side, looking at her worriedly. "Luna? Are you alright?"
She smiled at him softly before she swayed in place and with that, her world darkened and she knew no more.
ϟ
Poppy Pomfrey looked about in confusion and wonder as the shining white light dissipated from around her form. She had been in her office, having just stood up after a few hours of personal reading intending to head to lunch when the light had surrounded her.
Now her surroundings had changed completely, from the familiar stone of Hogwarts to a fascinating metal that looked to have been stylistically rusted, only the colouring was off. Being hues of blue and green rather than the expected reds and browns.
"Poppy!" Granger's voice sounded and the woman spun on her heel to see the girl looking quite dishevelled.
"Miss Granger? If you would like my help, I am willing to give it. But this habit of whisking me to and fro without warning…"
Hermione stepped forward and grabbed her arm, pulling her roughly in through the doorway that she hadn't realized the girl had been standing in. This room was made of the same material as the hallway, but inside were a handful of beds, two of which were occupied by still figures. She didn't have to think hard to figure out the purpose of this particular room.
"Please help them." Hermione whimpered and the nurse followed the girl's eye-line to the left figure.
The one on the right was known to her, Miss Lovegood had not returned to Hogwarts for the previous school year to retake her aborted sixth year of study, but the woman on the left she had never seen before. Yet she was familiar in a fashion. A quick glance between the still figure and Hermione, and the look of the man by the woman's bedside clarified the identity. This was Hermione's mother.
"What happened?" She asked, dropping into her professional manner and walking over to the still form on the bed.
"We were attacked." Harry Potter explained, leaning so quietly against the wall near the door she had not noticed him until now. "She was hit by some form of kinetic energy wave. It knocked her flying several feet through the air and she landed hard. The ground was mostly covered in long thick grass, but she has been unresponsive since we got back here."
"How long?"
"An hour and twenty-six minutes." Neville Longbottom added, drawing her eye to the far side of the room.
"Give me a moment." The woman drew her wand and began to cast a number of spells over Hermione's mother. The girl looked rather fraught and it fueled her own desire to help the woman, having seen that face many times on the girl as she sat beside a similarly still Mister Potter.
Most of the responses to her spells were good. The woman was alive, her internal organs were undamaged if a little shaken up, and her automatic responses were there. She was simply out of it consciously. She moved her spells up the body, running more specific tests over the woman's face and head.
"Not good." She muttered to herself and regretted it instantly as she felt Hermione seize up beside her. "She has a nasty concussion, which on its own would simply require rest and time to heal. But there is swelling internally as well. Pressure will build up if it is not relieved."
She felt someone pull Miss Granger from her side and glanced back to see Mister Potter holding her tightly as she sobbed into his chest. "Can you fix that?"
She tilted her head slightly at the lad. "Of course."
Poppy turned the woman's face gently to the side away from her and swept her wand along the flesh of the head, the woman's hair vanishing from the area immediately around the tip, allowing her to clearly see the swollen flesh beneath. She had to remove almost half of the hair covering the area before she could see the full extent of the damage and it also revealed a forming bruise that indicated the point at which the head had met the ground.
Mrs Granger was lucky to be alive, had the impact been a few inches further forward it could have been instantly fatal. Not to mention the possibility of neck and spinal damage. With a precise prod on the now clear skin in front of the bruise, she opened a sliver in the flesh, the magic widening the space and allowing her to see the bone underneath. Given it was by the point of impact, it was where the internal swelling was at its worst.
With a quick glance at the sobbing girl and her father opposite, she tapped the skull gently and a small round hole appeared in the bone. Instantly a flow of fluid began to seep out of the opening and into the space she had cleared. Lifting her wand higher, Poppy conjured a small ceramic shape her friend had detailed for her several years earlier. She quickly placed the device against the hole in the skull bone and tapped it gently twice.
The ceramic twisted into its new shape, fitting within the cavity perfectly and only allowing a small trickle of fluid through the nozzle on its upper side. Poppy vanished the fluid in the pouch formed by the open skin and skull beneath and waved her wand over the skin, watching closely as it came together once more, knitting up around the shunt in the woman's head.
She conjured a small cup under the nozzle of the device and monitored the flow rate, noting that it was within acceptable limits. She gave a sigh of relief as she cast a vanishing enchantment on the tip of the nozzle and an unbreakable charm on the entire piece, to prevent it from being damaged accidentally.
"That will do it. If the pressure builds, this will let it flow out and get back to normal, but will not allow flow if the pressure is within normal range." She looked up to see the nervous Miss Granger still perched in Mister Potter's arms standing beside Mr Granger as he looked at her curiously. "Is something the matter?"
"Not at all… I've just never seen a magical person perform muggle brain surgery before." The man replied.
"Not all of us refuse to interact with our muggle neighbours. I have several friends in your medical field. You'd be surprised how often I have to treat rather seriously brain swelling or bruising with this lot rough-housing constantly. Not to mention Quidditch. Have you ever seen what happens to a brain when someone takes a bludger to the back of the head?"
"So that is a shunt?"
"Basically. It will allow things to normalize. I will leave the area clean of hair for the time being, but I am certain Miss Granger can furnish her mother with a satisfactory hair growth tonic later if needed. Now, for Miss Lovegood. What happened to her?"
"She was hit with a similar wave of energy." Padma Patil explained as Poppy stepped over to the other occupied bed, noticing the Indian girl seated beside it for the first time. "But she had a shield in place. She was a little dizzy and she blacked out almost immediately once we got back here."
Poppy nodded as she ran the same tests over Miss Lovegood, beginning at the head this time and noting she too had a slight concussion, though wasn't suffering any swelling. She did, however, have several small fractures down the bones of her right arm as though someone had hit the outstretched limb on the end with a hammer. Whatever this energy wave was, it must have had a lot of power behind it.
She quickly set about treating the concussion, using spells she had long since perfected to reduce the symptoms while preventing the patient from exacerbating the injury when they inevitably got up and started rushing about before she released them.
The bones were far simpler to repair than Mister Potter's incident in his second year where that damned moron had removed them entirely. Within seconds, the bone had knitted back together and she noticed the muscles around the injury slackened at last.
Finally, she waved her wand over the girl's chest, soothing the bruising that had begun to develop around the shoulder and the upper right rib cage. She would be sore for a while, but pain potions and bruise salve would reduce that almost completely.
"Miss Lovegood will be fine with a few days of bed rest. Mrs Granger, however, will need to be monitored." Poppy explained as she walked back to the elder woman's bed. "I am casting several spells over her now to notify me if anything changes. Normally I would portkey us back to Hogwarts so I could observe her condition, but the way those work it would be too dangerous with her current injuries."
"You can stay here as long as you need." Mister Potter offered, "we have plenty of space and we can get you back to Hogwarts at a moment's notice."
Poppy considered the lad for a moment before glancing at the woman on the bed. It would be better to remain in proximity for the next few hours at least. Her condition was stable but could change for the worse quickly.
"I was preparing to have dinner." Poppy noted and Mister Longbottom shot up behind her.
"I'll get something ready. Anything you like?"
"Very well. I will monitor her from here for the time being." She walked over to the doorway where the eager former Gryffindor was standing. "Provided you give me a tour of this incredible place." She finished with a smile that Mister Longbottom eagerly returned.
ϟ
Thursday, 16th September 1999.
Natalie's entire body throbbed painfully as she lurched back to consciousness. Her chest felt like someone had been sitting on it for days and breathing hurt, even the steady thrum of her heart was painful. Her pelvis felt like she had been sitting on a rock for hours but worst of all was the pain in her head. It was the worst sort of headache imaginable, a deep all-over throbbing that pulsed every few moments. Every sound made her wince and as she opened her eyes, the light seemed to sear her retina.
She tried to lift her arm and block the light but it would not move at all. Panic set in as she tried in vain to move any part of her body. She could feel them there, the pain was a clear guide of that, but they would not move as she wanted.
"Natalie… hold still." A strange voice came and a woman she had never seen before towered over her frozen form. "You were hurt and your brain was swelling. We froze you in place, so don't try to move."
"Mum, she's a nurse. Do as she says." Hermione appeared at the other side of her vision and Natalie relaxed slightly.
"Better." Natalie felt a gentle tap by her lips. "You can speak now. How do you feel?"
Natalie swallowed and regretted it immediately as the entire length of her esophagus hurt in the process. "Sore." Her voice was harsh and low and she barely recognized it at all. "What…"
"We were attacked. Blindsided." Hermione interrupted, the girl's hand clutching her own and making the pain in that limb grow, but she relished the contact so said nothing in return. "We've been so worried. You've been out for over a day."
The other woman began waving what she assumed was a wand back and forth over her head and Natalie's eyes flicked back and forth following it, making her dizzy again as her eyes tried to focus on the shifting object.
"Easy, Natalie. You are going to feel disoriented and weak for a few days. You took quite the tumble. I've seen serious Quidditch injuries that were less severe. You will be fine, just relax and let me check your condition."
Natalie sighed and closed her eyes, trying to let the throbbing in her head lessen, the whipping sounds of the wood in the air and the solid reassurance of her daughter's firm grip keeping her from slipping back into the darkness fully.
"The swelling has lessened considerably, but it's still pretty bad. I recommend a few more days of bed rest. The pressure is low enough I could remove the shunt, but I'll leave it in for the next week. Just to be safe."
Natalie opened her eyes again and they hurt like before, but not as badly as they had the first time. "Richard?" Natalie whispered.
"Dad is fine. He went nuts when he saw you go down and blasted the hell out of that thing. Those weapons of Harry's pack a punch." Hermione explained as Natalie felt the bed shift in the girl's direction, indicating she had sat on the edge.
"I'm comfortable heading back for now. Her recovery will progress on its own from here. And I will be needed at Hogwarts sooner or later."
"Here." A young male voice came from the end of the bed and Natalie could not move her head to see who it was. It seemed familiar, but her mind wasn't clear enough to discern its owner's identity. "I made this for you. It will beep if we need you again and you can reply yes or busy. So we don't steal you away from anything important."
The woman over her smirked and stretched her hand down the length of the bed, returning with a small object that she glanced at before tucking into a pocket in her gown. "Very well. Though, if you're going to be getting into dangerous situations like this very often, might I suggest you hire on your own medical professional."
"I'll look into it." The voice said as the woman returned her attention to Natalie.
"I'm going to leave the binding on for today. Hermione can remove it tomorrow. Try and get some more rest. That will help you more than all the potions in the world right now. You'll be back to normal in a few days."
The kind woman smiled and Natalie felt a light wave of relief flow through her. She was going to be ok, Richard and Hermione were both fine. She closed her eyes and focused on the hand holding her own, trying to let the pain fade into the background.
She heard the sound of a beam go off beside her and assumed they had sent the woman back to Hogwarts. As she focused on steadying her breathing, she heard the voice again. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. I got them…"
"Shut up!" Hermione said angrily. "If you try and claim responsibility for this, Harry Potter, I will curse you so badly, we'll need Poppy back." Natalie couldn't help the smile she felt at her daughter's comments. Once a quiet shut-in bookworm, the girl had grown into a ferocious young woman who wasn't afraid to give her friend a piece of her mind.
"I started all of this." Harry tried to argue pitifully.
"You found a cave. Every single one of us has joined you willingly from that point onward."
"But I'm the one who beamed them here."
"Because a search I made found them. I wanted them back. I do not blame you for any of this. Dad doesn't blame you. And I'm certain my mother doesn't blame you. We all blame Anubis."
Natalie was confused by that comment. What did a former Egyptian god have to do with anything?
"Yeah, well. He's not going anywhere for a long time. He's given up trying to escape the box. Merlin has been running scans on him and it's not looking good."
Hermione paused for a moment before she replied, her finger sweeping gently over Natalie's skin. "Do you think it's really him? Really some ancient god?" Her voice sounded slightly awed but also uncertain.
"No. From what Merlin can tell, he's partially ascended. Mostly made up of energy. The thing we were shooting at is a force shield that keeps it contained and allows it to interact with the world around it. The tech he used to attack us was built into it."
"How do you partially ascend?"
"Don't know. Merlin is working on it. He's digging through Myrddin's notes and research. Maybe we'll find something useful in there. We got lucky, this could have been a whole lot worse."
Natalie tried to keep listening as the teens kept chatting to one another, but the throbbing in her mind and Hermione's gentle movements soon lulled her back to sleep and she lost track of the world once more.
ϟ
Friday, 17th September 1999.
"Hey, you're supposed to be resting that head of yours," Luna smirked as she heard Neville, glancing up from the datapad to see him standing in the doorway.
"I am resting." She said, tilting her gaze back down at the information on the pad. "By reading."
"Ravenclaw's." Neville joked as she sat beside her. "How are you feeling?"
"Still a little groggy. Nothing to do for a concussion but let it get better. Though the potions do help."
Neville nodded as she glanced at the datapad. "Whatcha lookin' at?"
"The Asgard report on the Goa'uld."
"The goa'uld? Why?"
"I had a thought." She said plainly.
"You have lots of thoughts Luna. Care to tell me what this one might be?"
"Anubis."
Neville stared at her and she tried not to giggle at the face he made. "What about him?"
"He's an ancient Egyptian god. Like Ra."
"So you thought he might be a goa'uld like Ra," Neville stated, catching onto her train of thought.
"Yep." She popped. "The Asgard have a fairly comprehensive history of the goa'uld. Know thy enemy and such. So far most of this has been about Ra and the System Lords from the Second Goa'uld Dynasty. Roughly the past sixteen thousand years. Or a little before they came into direct conflict with the parasites."
"Before they found Earth?"
"Yeah, that was about ten to eleven thousand years ago. Had the Lanteans returned a thousand years earlier, Earth might have been saved from Goa'uld invasion and exploitation entirely."
"I can't imagine maintaining a war with someone for thousands of years. Three was bad enough. And only one of those was really a war."
Luna smiled up at Neville, noticing the hard edge to his face as he considered their time in occupied Hogwarts, as short as hers had been before she was shipped off to Malfoy Manor. "You did good, Neville."
He sighed. " I know. I just wish I had done more."
"Like what? You already stood up for the other students, took their punishments where you could. I've never seen anyone hold up under the treatment you were subjected to by the Carrows. Then you gave the students a place to hole up safely when it all became too much. You killed Nagini and allowed Harry the opening he needed to end the war. Without you, it would still be going on. Just what do you think you could have done that is more than that?"
Neville looked at her slightly incredulously as though he'd never laid out what he had done in his own mind. "I don't know."
"Martyring yourself will not bring your parents back." His eyes flicked to her face immediately. "I'd give anything to see my mother again. But I won't do that, because she would be disappointed in me if I did. As much as I miss her, I know she'd be proud of me. As your parents are proud of you, even if they can't say or show it."
Neville nodded quietly.
"Now… shush. I've more reading to do and you might wake Natalie. She needs the rest. But I wouldn't mind you staying." Luna smiled at the boy and turned back to her datapad, burying herself in the history of a species whose atrocities made Voldemort look like a toddler throwing a tantrum.
ϟ
Sunday, 19th September 1999.
Harry stared into the bright box before him. It was barely two metres on each side and the shimmering energy running through its walls made it glow ethereally. And yet through all that, the cloud inside still looked beyond dark; and felt evil.
Harry stared at it, and the shade stared right back at him.
They hadn't been able to get a word out of the shade since they'd taken away its force shield outfit, the entity kicking and screaming at them for defiling the mighty Anubis with their touch. Harry was beginning to think he was too far along that ascended path to interact normally with the real world anymore. But Hermione believed he simply refused to address them, the lower insignificant creatures that had beaten him. His pride silenced him as he pretended himself better than them.
She had convinced him that it was not his fault things had gone down as they did, but he refused to leave the thing unattended for long. Fault or no, he still felt responsible for the others' safety.
A shimmer by his side notified Harry that Merlin had appeared. "My sensors are more than capable of monitoring the cage."
"I know," Harry replied, not taking his eyes away from the hovering cloud of menacing intent.
"I'm still not finished analysing the full extent of the data we've downloaded, but I feel confident confirming our current hypothesis. It definitely shares enough similarities to the information in Myrddin's notes. Whatever it may have once been, it has at the very least, partially moved into the ascended plane."
"It is Anubis," Luna commented, walking in behind them.
Harry flicked his eyes to the girl who smiled at him softly, a smile he returned, though far stiffer than her own.
"You can confirm this?" Merlin enquired.
"Confirm, no. But I've gone through the Asgard's history of the Goa'uld top to bottom. Back in the First Goa'uld Dynasty, they all served Apep after he publicly murdered his father Atok. Instead of taking all the spoils and attempting to rule as Atok did, Apep divided the forces of his father among the strongest Goa'uld creating the Underlords. Ra, Nut, Thoth, and eventually Anubis.
"Anubis was clever, he was ambitious and he was without morals of any kind. Over thousands of years, he tricked Thoth into creating the imperfect sarcophagus technology, knocked off and absorbed the forces and regions of several Underlords and their servants, and weaselled his way into being the most favoured of Apep."
Harry watched the shimmering darkness in the box as it seemed to shiver with pride as Luna narrated its former deeds.
"Apep began to go insane after so many years in charge, and Anubis encouraged his use of the sarcophagus, which only served to hasten the Overlord's mental degradation. By this method, he learned most of Apep's secrets, including the locations of advanced weapons he could then turn on the other Underlords. He has always actively sought out advanced or powerful technology and information. Ascension would be irresistible to him."
Luna shuffled closer to the box and Harry stepped up beside her, unwilling to let her be so close to the monstrous cloud alone. "Anubis used the cache of weapons he managed to trick Apep into revealing in order to make his move against the other Underlords. He forcibly removed Apep's symbiote and ate it in front of them, declaring himself Emperor. The Underlords banded together to fight him and over centuries they waged war. When they eventually unseated him, they banished him and took the superweapon he had devised.
"Ra was the most powerful of the Underlords that overthrew Anubis, and he split the weapon into parts, keeping one for himself and dispersing the rest to Osiris, Tiamat, Apophis, Setesh, and Balor. His most trusted allies. A strange term for the Goa'uld, given none of them ever really trust the others or cease their struggle for greater power. Ra decreed a new method of leadership by creating the System Lords from these individuals, as well as Isis and Bastet, and the Second Goa'uld Dynasty began.
"Anubis vanished for another few thousand years before he popped up again, not long after the rebellion of Osiris and Isis, leading a huge army and offering to wipe out the Asgard, whom the Goa'uld had since gone to war with thanks to Ra and Famrir. In exchange, he demanded the absolute loyalty of, and control over, the Goa'uld. As Supreme System Lord, Ra didn't take that well and another war broke out. During this war, many of Ra's so-called allies sided with Anubis and he very nearly won, but in the end, Ra damn near killed him. It was only by a further betrayal that Anubis was saved from Ra's hand, and it is now generally believed that Anubis was murdered."
"Clearly that is not the case," Harry noted.
"Clearly. And Anubis fell out of their history, banished and 'killed' for crimes even the Goa'uld considered unthinkable."
"He is the worst of the worst of the Goa'uld, then?"
"So it would seem. There is a reason he is renowned as the Lord of Death on Earth when he barely had a chance to interact with its people. They feared his name more than the gods that they could see and touch. More even than Sokar, who took over Earth while Ra was fighting Anubis the second time and modelled himself as the literal devil. It appears that somehow in his second exile, Anubis found a way to work towards ascension."
Harry nodded along to her conclusion. "Any ideas why he didn't make it all the way?"
"Perhaps he didn't fail," Hermione noted from the doorway, startling Harry slightly. "Maybe he succeeded."
"But if he succeeded," Luna asked, "why is he like this now?"
"The Others interfered with Moros. If Anubis was as bad as you say, do you think they'd tolerate his presence among them? Maybe they forced him part of the way back."
The cloud shuddered aggressively and hammered against the clear barrier, an intense pulse of energy blasting him back and leaving those watching wincing in pain at the sudden brightness.
"Sore subject?" Harry asked the shade, smirking.
"I'd say that pretty much confirms your theory," Merlin noted. "Which may work in our favour. Though I would advise against discussing such things in its presence."
"Agreed." Harry and Hermione said in unison.
"I will prepare a detailed report for tomorrow. Natalie should be able to attend by then." Merlin finished, nodding once before disappearing, leaving Harry, Hermione and Luna staring at the undulating cloud of evil in its prison cell.