Harry Potter and the Book of the Dead

Chapter 2: Home Invasion

England, 1991.

On the outskirts of London, a large estate sat. It was night-time and a cab pulled away from the gravel driveway. The house was warmly lit as Rick was carrying a majority of everyone's luggage into the living room while Evy waxed lyrical about what they had discovered in Egypt.

"I think the Bracelet is some sort of guide to the lost Oasis of Ahm Shere," Evy prattled. Rick did his best to suppress a heavy sigh; ever since they had found that stupid bracelet, Evy had been going about the legend of the Scorpion King and the Oasis of Ahm Shere.

"Evy… I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no," Rick said tiredly. "We just got home!" he emphasized by dropping the suitcases onto the carpeted floor of the living room.

This didn't deter Rick's wife when she said, "That's the beauty of it: we're already packed!"

Rick held up a finger. "Just give me. One. Good. Reason," he said slowly.

"It's just an Oasis… darling," Evy said with an air of innocence and seduction as she took off Rick's hat with one hand. She then slowly walked around her husband, pulling off his scarf as she did, saying, "A beautiful… exciting… romantic… Oasis."

Rick hummed as if considering the possibility as he wrapped his hands around Evy's waist and replied, "The kind with the white sandy beach, palm trees and the cool clear blue water?" he asked and Evy nodded. "We could have some of those big drinks with the little umbrellas," he then added.

"Sounds good," Evy purred as she leaned up to kiss Rick on the lips.

But Rick wasn't buying it. "Sounds too good!" He pushed Evy to arm's length and asked in a serious tone of voice that left no room for evasion, "What's the catch?"

"Supposedly it's the resting place of Anubis's Army," Evy admitted sullenly, disappointed that her attempt at seducing Rick into the idea had not worked.

"I knew it! There's always a catch!" Rick bemoaned.

Then a soft, sibilant hissing caught Rick and Evy's attention and they looked to see a familiar face enter, or rather, slither into the room. Harry's pet python Nagini had arrived to greet everyone.

A few years after Rick and Evy had adopted Harry as their son, Harry had been playing in the garden and when Evy had had come to check on Harry, to her absolute fright, she found little Harry playing with an enormous snake. She had screamed for Rick to grab his gun to save Harry, but Harry had protested saying that Nagini, the python's name apparently didn't mean any harm. Rick too had been alarmed and nearly shot Nagini the moment when he saw her, but it was only Harry's pleas that kept Rick from acting on a fatherly instinct.

Evy knew that snakes were reasonably intelligent, but Nagini was much more so than a regular python to an almost unnatural degree. The serpent seemed to listen very intently whenever Harry spoke to it and Harry seemed to speak in a strange hissing tongue to it that made Nagini respond with the similar hissing sounds. This made Evy and Rick wonder just what kind of child Harry was and what kind of snake Nagini was. So reluctantly, Nagini was allowed to stay on the condition that she didn't try to eat anyone and sneak into rooms at night.

They had built an enclosure for Nagini, but Harry had told them that Nagini wasn't too fond of it. She would stay in it if guests had come to visit, but she mostly preferred to roam around the estate and the grounds in search of food.

Jonathon was absolutely terrified of Nagini and would have a near panic attack every time Nagini was in the room. That earned Nagini a few points in Rick's book and he even asked Harry if he could ask Nagini to keep an eye on Jonathon to which Harry said he'd make sure Nagini would keep an eye on Jonathon.

"Hello, Nagini," Rick greeted the serpent cautiously who simply stared at him silently, her forked tongue flickering out. "Harry's not far behind," he told the python who then slithered off past Rick and Evy to find Harry. Rick then focussed his attention back on his wife.

"So, you were saying?" he asked sternly and Evy pouted.

Harry was hauling the ancient Egyptian chest that according Evy contained the Bracelet of Anubis. The chest itself was quite heavy, and the Bracelet was said to be made of gold which added to the weight of it.

"Hello, Harry," said a familiar voice and Harry perked up upon seeing Nagini slither out from the corner to greet.

"Hey, Nagini," Harry said to the python. "Has Uncle Jon been behaving himself?" he asked.

"The Annoying One has brought someone over with him," Nagini informed him.

"Blonde?"

"Blonde."

Harry sighed before saying, "Better tell Mum and Dad." He then hefted the chest in his arms, grunting a little at the weight.

"What did you find in Egypt this time?" Nagini as she slithered alongside Harry as they headed for the living room.

"The Bracelet of Anubis according to Mum," Harry said. "She's been talking about it non-stop and some guy called the Scorpion King and a place called the Oasis of Ahm Shere," he added for Nagini's benefit.

"I've heard of the Bracelet, as well as the legend of the Scorpion King and Ahm Shere," Nagini said with a knowing tone.

"What do you know?" Harry asked.

"The Scorpion King comes from the Time Before the Pyramids," Nagini said. "He belonged to a tribe of warriors and assassins called the Akkadians. The man himself was named Mathayus," she added.

"How did he get to be called the Scorpion King?" Harry asked in fascination.

"Well, it's a long story, but the gist of it involves the man being contracted to kill a fortune teller that was in service, or rather enslavement, to a powerful warlord. The warlord had Mathayus poisoned with scorpion venom and the fortune teller saved his life. A lot of things happened afterwards that ended with Mathayus killing the warlord, taking the fortune teller as a wife and becoming known as the Scorpion King thereafter. But that was not the end of it."

"What do you mean? What happened?" Harry asked.

"The death of his wife and loss of his kingdom drove the Scorpion King down a dark path which led him to attacking Thebes and losing the battle and being driven into Ahm Shere. The Scorpion King then made a pact with Anubis who gave him an army in exchange for his soul. When his task was done, Anubis collected on the deal and the Scorpion King was then taken into Ahm Shere to await the he would awaken to begin his conquest again," Nagini explained.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Harry asked in amazement.

"Stories passed down from generation to generation among snake-kind," Nagini replied mysteriously.

"Right…" Harry said sceptically, wondering if Nagini was trying to pull his leg as he entered the living room and saw his adoptive parents on the balcony. "Mum! What do I do with this chest?! It weighs a bloody ton!"

"Harry, watch your language!" Evy chastised him.

"Rather heavy this," Harry then corrected himself as he laid the chest on a nearby table while his parents talked about something. As he turned around to head for the kitchen to get something to eat, a loud popping click made itself known from the chest.

Harry turned around to look at the chest wondering what had made that noise. Seeing the star shaped key on the table, Harry's curiosity took hold of him. Nagini had a serpentine look of alarm and said, "Harry… what are you doing?" she asked warningly.

"Just having a look," Harry said innocently as he put the key to the lock and turned it. The lid of the chest popped with a loud click and Harry lifted the lid off to reveal the Bracelet of Anubis sitting there innocently, fully opened, waiting for a wrist to adorn.

"Did the Bracelet unlock itself?" Harry wondered as some inexorable force compelled him to put the bracelet on his wrist.

"Harry?" Nagini asked in worry, but the boy did not listen as he picked up the Bracelet and placed it on his left wrist. Immediately, the manacle snapped itself closed around Harry's wrist and hummed to life. His arm seemingly lifting itself up of its own accord, Harry was the greeted with visions of locals across Egypt. Then like a roller coaster, the images were hurled across Harry's vision before finally ending at a vision of Karnak before the vision ended and Harry's arm fell down.

Harry then attempted to make the Bracelet come off his wrist. "Cripes! How do you take this thing off?!" he cursed.

"Now look what you've done!" Nagini bemoaned.

"Harry? Behave yourself for five minutes, alright?" Rick called out to Harry as he headed for somewhere else in the house.

Quickly covering up the Bracelet with the sleeve of his school blazer, Harry quickly replied with, "You got it!" Evy then made her way down the stairs reading from a book just as Harry placed a school trophy in the Chest and closed it. Evy looked up at her adopted son with a smile.

"Happy to be home?"

Harry smiled at his mother and replied, "Couldn't be happier!"

Evy then handed the book she was reading to Harry to the page she had been reading. "It's the year of the Scorpion King," she informed him

Harry's eyes lit up as he read the page which detailed the Egyptian New Year. "Neat!" he exclaimed in surprise.

"Of course! That's why the Bracelet opened!" Nagini stated and Harry chose to ignore the python's words.

Meanwhile, outside the O'Connell estate, a trio of silver and black cars rolled up onto the driveway and stepping from the lead car was a tall heavily muscled and dark skinned man wearing a mixture of red and block cloth. Sheathed on his left hip was an Egyptian Shamshir made of high-quality steel. Two other individuals stepped from the cars, an older gentleman wearing a crisp black suit and tie with a red turban on his head and a beautiful woman with deep tan skin and wearing a fashionable evening dress and a fishnet veil over her dark eyes.

Then multiple men appeared out from the cars, wearing red robes and armed with swords and automatic rifles. The older black suited man then spoke in a clear crisp accented voice, "Spread out. Find the Bracelet! Take Evelyn O'Connell alive. And kill her husband and son!" he ordered.

The dark-skinned man gave a cruel smile as he nodded at some of the red robed men who then followed him into the house via one entrance while the others went via another entrance.

A few minutes later, a tall olive skinned man wearing black robes with silver embroidery on them, his hair dark and shoulder length with tattoos in the form of some kind of ancient script. A curved sword hung by the man's hip as he observed the red robed men enter the O'Connell estate.

"Allah forgive me if I am too late," the man whispered to himself before he made for the mansion and entered the house, hoping he could reach the O'Connell's in time to warn them or get them out of there alive.

Evy was then searching Harry for where he had put the key to the ancient chest and she said to him, "Harry, I'm serious! If you've lost that key, you're grounded!" she threatened him.

"I haven't lost it," Harry countered. "I just can't find it!" he lied. Harry had conveniently 'lost' the key in a bid to keep the truth he had put the bracelet of Anubis on his wrist and placed a baseball trophy in the chest.

"You should tell her the truth, y'know?" Nagini said from her spot in the corner of the living room. "It'll save us a lot od headaches if you do," she added.

"Shut it you!" Harry hissed at the python.

"Whatever Nagini just said, you'd better start finding the key then!" Evy grumbled out.

"I will, there's nothing to worry about, Mum!" Harry said with a laugh.

Then a deep smooth voice with a menacing undertone to it spoke, "Good evening." Evy and Harry looked to see a tall dark-skinned man wearing red standing before in the living room. Nagini hissed angrily in warning at the intruder, rearing up, her fangs bared.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Evy asked cautiously as she stood in front of her son protectively.

"I am looking for the chest, of course," the dark man replied with a smile. Harry then took the chest into his arms and held it protectively to his chest.

"Give it to me now," the dark man said threateningly.

Grabbing one of the swords from the display rack on the wall, Evy held the iron blade in her hand and replied, "Get out of my house!"

"Whoa, mum, maybe not the best idea," Harry said weakly.

"Harry, stay back there!" Evy ordered and then men wearing red robes and armed with swords walked in to stand beside the dark man.

Evy weighed her options; there were multiple opponents in front of her and they obviously wanted the Bracelet of Anubis for some nefarious purpose. From the looks of them, they weren't mercenaries and looked more like they were part of some kind of cult. Evy wasn't sure if she could keep the Bracelet out of their hands and protect Harry at the same time. Of course, with Nagini here, there was a slim hope that they could come out of this alive.

"Definitely not the best idea," Harry remarked in worry as he saw the multiple armed men. "I think it's time to yell for Dad now," he said.

"Now I will kill you and take it anyway!" the dark man growled.

"I think not!" a voice suddenly announced and walking out from the corridor near Harry was a tall lean man wearing black and silver robes with long dark hair and tattoos on his face. Nagini hissed in warning, but the man looked at the serpent before speaking to it.

"I mean you no harm, child of Wadjet."

Nagini had a look of surprise and said "You speak the same language I do?"

"Of course."

"Nagini?" Harry said to the python who nodded at him in reassurance. Evy obviously recognised the man as did the red robed man who all drew their swords with growls of anger.

"Ardeth? What are you doing here?" Evy asked the Medjai chieftain who was obviously far from his native Egyptian desert.

"Perhaps explanations are best kept for later," Ardeth Bay replied as he locked gazes with the dark man who gave a thin smile.

"Ardeth Bay," he said in almost mocking greeting.

"Lock-Nah," Ardeth said with a grim smile on his bearded lips.

Lock-Nah then barked an order in Egyptian and his henchmen launched themselves at Ardeth and Evy. Ardeth smoothly drew his sword and whirled it in a figure-eight motion keeping his opponents at bay. Acting on instinct, Evy cartwheeled knocking one thug out with a heel to the jaw. Smoothly getting to her feet, Evy parried a strike from one cultist's sword and grabbed the man by the arm and threw him to the side.

Nagini launched herself at one robed man, striking with venomous fangs and wrapped herself around another and squeezed the life out from him.

Harry was just astounded that his mother was able to fight like a pro. "Where did you learn do this?" he cried out to her.

Knocking back one thug, Evy replied, "I have no idea!" She then tackled by one of the thugs into the wall. Grabbing her opponent, Evy jerked her knee into the man's groin, making him groan in pain bending over allowing Evelyn to knee him in the face a couple of times before pulling him up and punching him across the jaw knocking him unconscious.

"That, I learnt from your father!" Evy told Harry.

Then one of the cultists tried wrest the chest from Harry who shouted, "Let go!" Nagini came to Harry's rescue striking the thug with venom filled fangs. The thug screamed as the neurotoxins were pumped into his bloodstream. Another thug suddenly kicked Nagini in the head, knocking her unconscious and threw Harry to the ground grabbing the chest.

Then Ardeth shouted to Evy as he fought three cultists, "What's the in the chest?!"

"The Bracelet of Anubis!" Evy hollered back as she parried blows from a thug.

"They must not get the Bracelet! Take it and get out of here!" Ardeth shouted as Lock-Nah drew his sword and began to fight the Medjai chieftain.

Harry then pulled on a nearby bookcase and made it topple onto some cultists.

Ardeth fought Lock-Nah but seemed to be outmatched in terms of raw strength and agility as the taller more muscular man struck him with fast heavy strikes.

Then a red robed man ran out from the corridor knocking Harry to the side and went straight for Evy. "Mum! Look out!" Harry cried out to her, but Evy turned around too late as she was suddenly struck across her temple sending her to neverland as it were and the cultist picked her up in a fireman carry hauled.

"Evelyn?!" Ardeth called out in alarm, his attention going to her and this allowed Lock-Nah to slash across the chest with his sword and knock him backwards against the wall. Preparing to leave with his prizes, Lock-Nah drew a multi-pronged knife from his belt and threw it with great force at Ardeth who barely managed to avoid projectile in time.

"Mum!" Harry shouted desperate as Lock-Nah and his minions fled with Evelyn and the chest.

Ardeth panted for breath from both exhaustion and pain inflicted by Lock-Nah. Getting to his feet wearily and fighting through the pain, the Medjai chieftain looked at the young boy before him. Right away, Ardeth could sense that the boy was a magical, although he doubted the boy knew himself. Or perhaps he did, given that he spoke with the python in the room.

The boy then looked at Ardeth with emerald eyes and asked, "Who are you? Where are they taking my mum?"

"I am Ardeth Bay, an old friend of your parents," Ardeth replied. "Those men came here for the Bracelet," he said.

"Why do they need the Bracelet?" the young boy asked with sweat appearing on his brow.

"They seek to awaken the Scorpion King so that they can resurrect the Creature, Imohtep, to claim the Army of Anubis for themselves," Ardeth explained quickly. "Who might you be, young man?" he then asked.

"I'm Harry. Harry Potter-O'Connell," the young boy said before he looked over the unconscious python and cried out, "Nagini!" Harry then rushed over to the unconscious python and tried to wake the python. "Nagini? Nagini!" Harry cried out in what Ardeth recognised as Parseltongue.

"You speak the language of Wadjet?" Ardeth asked in surprise wondering just how the boy was able to.

"I'm speaking a different language?" Harry said in a perplexed voice.

"You do not know?" Ardeth looked at the boy in confusion and Harry slowly shook his head in response. "Perhaps it's an explanation best kept for later. Right now we need to find your father," the Medjai said as he led Harry out of the room and headed for outside where they found Rick and Jonathon standing watching a trio of silver and black cars speed off towards London.

"Dad! Dad!" Harry cried out and Rick swept his adopted son into a fierce hug.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Rick asked the young boy who nodded in reply. Rick then saw Ardeth standing there.

"O'Connell," Ardeth said with a bow of his head in greeting.

Grabbing the man by his robes, Rick slammed him up against the estate statue."Wbhat the hell are you doing here?!" he asked angrily before switching tact by saying, "No. Scratch that. I don't care," he said angrily. "Who the hell were those guys and where are they taking my wife!?" he demanded.

"My friend," Ardeth said to him placatingly. "I am not. But wherever this man is," the Medjai then brought out a small photo depicting an older man wearing red robes and giving orders. "Your wife will surely be."

Harry saw the photo and his eyes lit up in recognition. Snatching the photo from Ardeth's hands, he said, "I know him! It's Mr Hafez! He works at the British Museum!" he stated.

"Are you sure?" Ardeth asked astounded.

"You better believe it, the kid spends more time there than he does at home," Rick said as he led everyone to the garage.

"Okay, you're here, bad guys are here and Evy's been kidnapped. Let me guess" Rick started and Ardeth replied, "Yes, they once again removed the Creature from his grave."

At that moment, Jonathon spoke up, "Not to point fingers, but isn't that your job to make sure it DOESN'T happen?" he asked with an accusing tone of voice.

Ardeth continued, "The woman who was with them, she knows things! Things that no living person could possibly know! She knew exactly where the creature was buried!" he said. "We were hoping she would lead us to the Bracelet and now they have it!" he added grimly.

"I wouldn't say that just yet," Harry said as he revealed the Bracelet of Anubis on his wrist,

Jonathon's eyes lit with greed. "Is that gold?" he asked.

"When I put the Bracelet on, I saw the Pyramids at Giza, then whoosh! Straight across the desert to Karnak!" Harry told them.

"By putting this on, you have started a chain reaction that could bring about the next apocalypse!" Ardeth said worriedly and Harry blanched at that and Jonathon too looked worried.

Rick had a much more deadpan reaction. He pointed to Ardeth, "You, lighten up." Pointing to Harry, he said, "You! Big trouble!" Looking at Jonathon, Rick sighed before saying, "You. Get in the car!"

Piling themselves into the car, Rick started the engine and with a roar, they sped off towards the British Museum in London while Ardeth spoke to him.

"I am sorry if I alarmed your son, but you must understand; now that the Bracelet is on his wrist, we have only seven days before the Scorpion King awakens!" the Medjai explained.

"We? What we?" Rick asked.

"If the Scorpion King is not killed, he will raise the Army Anubis!"

"I take it that's not a good thing?" Jonathon asked from his spot in the backseat.

"Oh, he'll wipe out the world," Rick said casually.

"Ah, the old 'wipe out the world' ploy," Jonathon muttered dryly.

"Whomever can kill the Scorpion King, can send his army back to the Underworld or use to destroy mankind and rule the earth," Ardeth then said.

"That's why they dug up Imohtep," Rick said in grim realisation. "He's the only guy tough enough to take on the Scorpion King!"

"That is their plan!"

"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Harry asked feeling very out of the loop.

"It's a long story, Harry," Jonathon told him. "A very long, very scary story!" he said with a shudder through his body as some old memories dredged themselves up.

"Then you're the perfect person to tell him then, Jonathon," Rick said to the man with a smug grin and Jonathon fought to keep a groan of annoyance escaping his lips.

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: There! After a long wait, I finally updated this! I apologise for making you all wait, but I hope this chapter makes up for it. Next chapter, we'll see Harry get 'brief' overview on his adoptive family's history with Imohtep and the rescue of Evy from Imohtep's cultists. We might even see Ardeth ask Rick about Harry and what he knows about him and his nature.

In other news I've got an Elder Scrolls/Game of Thrones multi-crossover on the brain in the style of Multiverse of Madness or LEGO Dimensions. Obviously Aegon/Young Griff will be a core cast character, along with the Dragonborn and some other characters from games/franchises including, but not limited, Fallout, Witcher, Outer Worlds, World of Warcraft, Fable and a host of others. I've also set up a poll on my profile of what worlds should be the first one that the 'party' travels to first, so please do vote on the poll or let me know what world should be first travelled to in a review or PM.

And that's about all I have right now, so I'll leave this here and see you all in the next one.

Be kind to one another,

Angry lil' elf.