In Hogwarts, Dumbledore is beginning to panic. The monitoring devices for anything regarding Harry are going wild. The golden device that's usually puffing smoke collapses into a pile of blackened gold dust, indicating the blood wards have fallen. The snow globe indicating his safety has the fake snow inside whirling as if in the middle of a blizzard, yet his health monitors show he is in perfect health.
He picks up his wand from its spot on his desk and rushes to the fireplace, grabbing a handful of floo powder and tossing it into the fire. "Number Eight, Privet Drive!" he shouts, and emerald flames spring up from the unlit logs within. "Arabella!" he calls frantically.
The called upon squib rushes to her living room. "Albus? What is it?"
"What is going on at Number Four?!" he demands.
The woman frowns. "Nothing, Albus. The Dursleys made a big deal about Vernon going to some conference in Cairo all last week, and they've been gone since Monday."
"Egypt?" he asks in shock. "Harry's monitors are going wild, and the blood wards have fallen! I'm calling the Order in for an emergency meeting, I'll let you know what's happening," he mutters, before the flames vanish on both ends.
He waves his wand, and a pure white phoenix bursts from the tip of the Elder wand, flying through the walls of his office and the castle to find the members of the Order of the Phoenix.
The smaller two children huddle together at Dr. Bey's feet in the back seat of the car as Jonathan speeds through the cramped streets of downtown Cairo, before coming to a screeching halt. The eyes of the youngest two meet, and the surrounding world seems to vanish.
"Imhotep," Seti greets his most trusted advisor and Priest, before seeing the man's daughter at his side. "And greetings to you as well, young Rania."
The nine-year-old smiles and curtsies as her father bows and replies for both of them with, "Greetings, my Pharaoh."
Seti nods and both rise as another nine-year-old, this one a boy, steps closer to the Pharaoh. "Imhotep, Rania, this is the future High Priest of Anubis, Ammon," he introduces the young new arrival.
Father and daughter hide their shock at the boy who has almost no difference in appearance to Rania. "It is a pleasure to meet you, High Priest, my fellow Favored," the boy murmurs to Rania.
The two adults stiffen at the title the boy so easily bestows upon their favorite child. Rania, having known of the title from her dreams, smiles at the boy. "It is my pleasure to finally meet another of His Favored," she replies without missing a beat.
The soft growl of a jackal fills the room as an impossibly large, thin jackal appears beside Ammon, sitting proudly beside the boy, and another sits elegantly beside Rania.
Imhotep and Seti trade a look, almost fearful of the presence of the jackal beside each child.
Both are pulled from their vision of Ancient Egypt by the hands of Terrence and Ardeth, tugged from the car in a hurry to try to run for safety from the mob.
The adults realize they've backed themselves into a corner with little chance of escape. The mob chants for their master, and part like the Red Sea for Moses as he arrives, lacking the decomposing patches of skin, walking proudly forward until he stands several paces before the group.
"Come with me, my children, my princess," he demands.
"Come with me, my children and princess," Beni translates for his master.
"It is time for you to take your places at my side, for all eternity."
Beni picks up for his master again. "It is time for you to stand at my side, forever," he mistranslates.
"For all eternity, dummy," Bahira mutters, making Beni frown as he thinks over Imhotep's words once more.
"If you come with me, I will spare your friends," he states carefully, offering his hand to Evy, but with his gaze staring into Bahira's eyes unblinkingly.
"If you come with me, I will spare your friends," Beni finally gets the translation perfect.
Evy pales as Bahira squeaks in fear, clutching Harry's hand tighter in one hand and clutches Ardeth's robes with the other. "Oh, my. Have you got any bright ideas?" she whispers to Rick.
"I'm thinkin', I'm thinkin'," he mutters, readjusting his grip on the torch in his hands nervously into a better hold for use as a weapon.
She takes a deep breath. "Well, you had better think of something soon, because if we get turned into mummies, you're the first one I'm coming after," she breathes, much to his shock. None of them have the thought to react before she takes the hands of the smallest children and steps forward into Imhotep's waiting arms.
"No!" Rick and the two Medjai cry in shock. However, Rick is the only one to draw a weapon, aiming for the regenerated mummy.
"Don't!" Evy cries back as Imhotep takes a child into each of his arms with surprising care, holding both close in a possessive manner. "He needs to take us to Hamunaptra to perform the ritual, and he can't hurt the children," she rushes out as Ardeth grabs Ricks arm, forcefully lowering his arm.
"She is right, Kafele. We live today, and fight tomorrow. We need to survive this night to make it to Hamunaptra to find the Book and stop him," he breathes to Rick, appealing to the side of him that might recognize the need to fight that he recalls from life as Bes.
Shaking with barely controlled rage, he reholsters his gun, glaring at the smirking Imhotep who subtly squeezes the pressure points on the children to knock them unconscious. "I'll be seeing you again," he growls threateningly.
Imhotep, not caring anymore for the expendable men and child left behind, turns and leads Evy away from them.
The snow globe in Dumbledore's office vibrates with the force of the snow within moving, the glass beginning to crack under the gaze of the entire Order, driving a spike of terror into the hearts of every member present for the meeting.
"Albus, can't we track down Harry with this?" Minerva cries at last, being the first to find the words to express herself.
He shakes his head sadly. "He is in mortal peril, and I never thought to put a tracking charm on him. All I know is that he is in Egypt, Cairo to be exact, and I have no contacts there. The Goblin Nation will not be of any assistance in finding little Harry either, I've already looked into it."
"So there is… nothing to be done?" Severus Snape murmurs slowly, despair washing over him.
The old Headmaster hangs his head, feeling every bit his age for the first time in a long time in his helplessness. "Nothing but wait, and hope for the best," he whispers to the silent room.
Imhotep reforms from his dust devil form, still holding both of the children in his arms as they slowly reawaken from their forced slumber.
"Oh my God," Evy mutters to herself, staring into the distance at Hamunaptra. "We're back," she whispers in horror, before they all hear the sound of a chopping and whirling engine cutting through the air. She sees two forms on the wings of the plane, one dark and another lighter in color, and a form in the back manning the gun. "Rick," she breathes with relief.
Fury burning within his eyes, Imhotep sets the children gently onto the sand before stepping away from them, and roars. The ground before him cracks, dust rising before the loose sand around them blows around to form a monstrous wall before them, churning in the howling wind used to keep it alive.
Bahira and Harry scream at the sight as Imhotep controls the wind and sand to chase the plane they know carries their friends. Beni stares at the children he knows have to be twins, just on their looks alone, seeing as he doesn't know anything else about them, with distaste, praying to every deity that he won't have to babysit them for his master.
As the plane is engulfed in the suffocating sand wall, Evy rushes to the mummy's side, gaze bouncing between the sand and the being controlling it, before closing her eyes and grabbing the man's head, pulling his face down to her own to force her lips onto his. His eyes widen in surprise, and he forgets to keep his control over the sand and kisses her back for the few seconds he can before she pulls away sighing in relief as she sees the plane is freed of the sand.
But the relief fades to horror as the plane's engine catches on fire, choking even more from the sand clogging up the gears and causing the plane to lose altitude fast, diving towards the ground and vanishing behind a sand dune in the distance. They hear the faint crunch of metal, the sand shifting, and see the beginning of the dark, oily smoke of a fire. Imhotep smirks to himself as he takes the hands of the children, pulling them to their feet and pulling them along towards Hamunaptra. But he can't help but allow the guilt to dissipate his amusement and victory at the sobbing of Rania as he forces her to walk in the hot desert as she grieves for her friends and family.