AN: While you do not need to know anything about Stargate, this is a sequel and I strongly recommend reading the previous book to understand what's going on. That said, one small thing before we start: Yes, everyone in the galaxy speaks English in Stargate. Don't overthink it and enjoy the ride.
Book 2
Alien Legacy
Chapter 1: Off to a Flying Start
"Space ... The final frontier."
Over a hundred light-years away from Earth, binary suns turned lazily around each other in a celestial dance that bathed the handful of planets surrounding them in their light.
Near one such planet, the tapestry of stars parted in a blinding flash of light, breaching the walls between reality and subspace to allow a ship to burst forth before disappearing.
"These are the voyages of the spaceship Requirement. Its ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and civilizations; to boldly go where no wizard—"
"I said no more references, Lee. The Muggles are gonna sue our arses off if they find out."
On the spaceship's bridge, a handful of teenagers busied themselves around large consoles covered in Nordic runes. They moved and turned rounded pearly stones on their smooth surfaces, piloting the ship and examining sensor data through the holographic displays projected in mid-air.
Such a scene would have been unthinkable a few years ago, yet so had been magic. And now, both had become integral parts of their lives.
"A bit late for that, Captain. A desert planet with two suns ... looks like we came out above Tatooine."
"We're so screwed..." Harry sighed. "Does it have a name or will I have to hear the same joke a hundred times today?"
"Surprisingly, it does." Angelina swiped on her data slate, sending the planet's information from the ship's previous visit to the main console's display. "Dakhla."
"Better odds than the last few planets, then." Harry sunk into his armchair, his gaze losing itself in the sight of the planet growing larger behind the window as they approached. "Malcolm, what do we have?"
"I think..." Malcolm Baddock, one of the youngest members of their crew, read out the ship's sensor data as they came in. "Jackpot! We got life signs and what I think is a city, Captain!"
"Finally." Ron's voice followed the bridge's door opening. "Not that I was getting bored of exploring empty planets—because who'd get bored of that?—but come on."
"So a spaceship with technology thousands of years beyond us and interstellar travel isn't enough for you?"
"I was promised aliens. And so far? Not impressed."
While they had yet to encounter any intelligent alien life, it was not for a lack of trying. Their exploration had so far been fruitless in locating any life beyond plants and the occasional animal. And while these discoveries were amazing on their own, a certain restlessness had taken root amongst the crew in the few weeks since they had left Earth for the first time.
Sure, weird plants and animals were great and their experts were fascinated by how similar they were to their Earth counterparts despite the obvious differences. However, it paled in comparison to the advanced alien civilization they were looking for.
Unfortunately, the one place where they knew they would find these aliens, Requirement's original home planet, was ridiculously out of reach. While the Helium-3 reactors and the capacitors they had installed allowed them to operate the ship's main systems, their generation capabilities were far lesser than the ship was designed for.
Forget the alien's home galaxy, any use of the more power-hungry systems like the weapons or the hyperdrive drained their reserves faster than a Niffler would a bank vault.
With their most obvious destination unattainable, they now embarked on a journey throughout the Milky Way, retracing Requirement's original flight path in search of technologies or resources that would help them unlock the full potential of their ship.
And now, finally, they would meet with the people of another world for the first time. This was the moment they had been waiting for since discovering this ship, nearly two years ago.
"So." Harry pushed himself up from the Captain's chair, grinning at everyone's expectant faces. "Who's coming?"
"Ok, try it now."
Ginny flicked a few switches and grasped the controls as the lights and displays all around her came to life with a purr. She pulled on the handles and the floor shook for an instant before the shuttle rose a meter into the air.
Turning the controls, Ginny brought the shuttle up and around in a wide turn. Taking her time to make sure everything worked as intended, she got a good view of the wide storage room they had retrofitted into a hangar.
Spare parts and unfinished prototypes were scattered around while cauldrons filled with a simmering blue liquid were lined up against the far wall, frost growing on their edges and everywhere their fumes touched. Tucked in a corner, Hermione's desk—made up of three separate desks she had stuck together—sagged under the weight of tomes, half-dismantled engines and rolls of parchments covered in notes.
As one would expect, one of the hangar's walls had been removed entirely and replaced by a shield. Based on a technology similar to the one used for windows across the ship, it had been modified to allow ships to pass through.
How such a field could do this while still keeping the air in was a mystery to Ginny, though she had long stopped any attempt at understanding how these alien machines worked. As far as she was concerned, that stuff was more unnatural than Muggles made magic out to be. Fortunately, she could leave the science part to Hermione and her team while she focused on the fun part like piloting this sweet little bird.
"All systems in the green and holding. I think we've got it."
"Thank God." Hermione sighed, the weight of the sleepless night she had spent reworking her designs clear even through the shuttle's speakers. "And not a moment too soon."
On the far end of the hangar, Harry had come in with more than half a dozen people, all decked out in the most recent generation of armoured suits.
While this new model was as form-fitting as ever, the undersuit was now padded and the bulky armour reminiscent of those displayed in Hogwarts had been replaced by dozens of smaller interlocking plates. This resulted in a far sleeker and less intimidating look, with the added benefit of leaving behind the medieval fashion and overly revealing parts.
That last point was something Lavender, who dearly loved her quartermaster position and never failed to remind them of it, had insisted upon when she was brought onto the project. Never one to back down from a fashion challenge, she had taken charge of the designs, leaving the Weasley twins in charge of the production and technical aspects.
While the crew had unanimously welcomed the more modern designs—futuristic was a word that quickly lost its appeal when you lived on a spaceship—more than one voice had raised complaints about losing their house colours.
However, with the arrival of so many new recruits, plenty of which originated from across the Channel and the Atlantic, the Hogwarts associations had been abandoned in favour of more practical colour schemes. To Harry's misery, Lavender had been initiated by her peers to popular science fiction shows, inspiring her to decorate the black undersuit and white armoured parts with coloured accents representing the wearer's role in the organization.
While Ginny and the rest of the people coming in the hangar wore suits marked with red and blue identifying them as members of the combat and science divisions respectively, the deep purple lines decorating Harry's made him stand out like a sore thumb. Many an argument were had between Harry and Lavender, though she never budged on her position that the captain should be unique and recognizable.
And despite his complaints and orders to have his suit be the same as the others, the colours always turned purple after a time. Although that's the kind of thing one should expect with the twins in charge of producing their equipment.
With the shuttle landed, Ginny turned off the power and came down the ramp opened in the back of the passenger's compartment. Before she could even put a foot on it, however, Ron, Angelina and Lee rushed past her and into the ship, talking animatedly as they brought necessary supplies onboard. Zacharias, Justin and Terry came up after them, though at a more sedate pace.
While Justin and Terry shared the others' enthusiasm, Zacharias kept to himself a few steps behind, preferring instead to grace Ginny with a scornful glare as they crossed paths.
Rather than cause a scene she wanted no part of, she gritted her teeth and pointedly did not look at him as she came down.
She didn't need him to spit back at her everything she already said to herself every day.
"Well done up there." Harry greeted her with a large grin while Sirius fussed over the shuttle's wings. "For a moment I thought you'd capsize on the descent."
"Har, har, very funny. We can't all be prodigies the moment we learn to fly."
"And it's not like it would be a problem." Hermione walked up to them with her dark circles under her eyes and hair more frazzled than usual. "The artificial gravity would keep everyone inside on their seats. You can go as wild as you want."
"Really?" Ginny raised an eyebrow, her mind filled with all the stunts she had thought of since she first sat in the pilot chair.
"No." Hermione sagged. "Please take it slow. This is still the first flight in real conditions."
"I could take the wheel if you want," Sirius called out from atop one of the wings, earning himself a dirty look from Hermione. "It can't be that different from my motorcycle."
"Of course it is. This is a spaceship, not some old enchanted bike. It relies on the laws of physics and not dubious charms."
"Just because you're pants on a broom doesn't mean magical means are unreliable." Harry said jokingly.
"I prefer when the thing keeping me in the air can't throw me off because it's having a tantrum, thank you very much." Hermione huffed as she watched Sirius jump back down. "Anyway, Ginny has been the test pilot since the first prototype and she's already quite familiar with the controls. You're in good hands with her."
And that familiarity would be sorely needed. While calculating coordinates and inputting them into the navigation console to let it plot a course by itself worked well for a large ship like Requirement, it was hardly suited for smaller ships. For a shuttle this size, intended to operate both in space on inside a planet's atmosphere, quick and precise manoeuvres could make all the difference between life and death. Months had been spent working on the navigation controls alone, building them from scratch as no suitable alternative could be found in the Requirement's database.
"Fine, have it your way..." Sirius said, feigning disappointment before perking right back up. "I'm definitely taking it out for a ride next time, though."
"In your dreams. I'm next in line" Harry shot back. "There has to be some perks if I have to be the Captain."
Seeing them joke around like that rid Ginny of the last of the annoyance clinging at the back of her mind and she laughed at Sirius' pout. The last days of the war had been hard for everyone and it had taken months before anyone dared to break the sombre mood that had fallen on the crew, despite Fred and George's best efforts.
They would carry the scars of these days their whole life, and some still had trouble sleeping through the night after the horrors they had faced, but now they could at least look toward the future.
"You're sure you don't want to come with us?" Harry asked Hermione. "I'm sure we could make room for you."
"We could always kick Ron out if we need." Ginny added, impishly.
"Oi!" A shout came out from inside the shuttle "Don't you even try!"
"No thanks." Hermione shook her head. "I'll be monitoring your progress from here and collect some data. Besides, Lee and Terry should be able to handle any problem."
For a moment, they all looked at her pointedly, not saying a word.
"Not that anything will go wrong, of course." She quickly added.
Despite the apprehension born from Hermione's parting words, the shuttle left Requirement's hangar without any trouble and began its descent toward the planet.
All in all, the ride was a smooth one. The seats were of a more modern design than the Hogwarts chairs they had replicated for Requirement, yet just as comfortable. Thanks to the inertial dampeners, the slight tremor of the floor every time Ginny corrected their course that accompanied the soft purr of the engine could have lulled a baby to sleep, despite the uneasiness it brought to those accustomed to flying a broom or hoverboard.
"We'll pass into the atmosphere shortly."
"Great." Harry gave a small tap on the back of Ginny's seat as he got up. "I'll go see how the kids are doing."
Separated from the cockpit by a short storage room, the walls of the passengers' area were lined by two padded benches and over-the-shoulder harnesses.
The excitement in the compartment was palpable, the laughs and conversations of everyone echoing in the entire shuttle. They had waited for this moment for two years now and they would be the first to see it unfold. Even Sirius couldn't hold in place, despite only having been among them for a few months.
And yet, Harry could all too easily see the doubts and apprehension lurking just beneath the surface. Tense shoulders and smiles; hands grasping at the harnesses just a bit too tightly; looks that never strayed too far from their wands, as if to make sure they were still here...
Their scars and Zacharias' missing forearm were not the only parts of the war they carried with them still.
Though they had travelled light-years away from Earth, a part of them yet remained buried there with Ernie, Remus and all those they had lost.
That wouldn't do.
Relaxing the tight grasp he had over the edge of the door and forcing a smile to come to his lips, Harry stepped into the compartment.
"So, what do you all think we'll find?"
"I'm betting on Roswell Greys," Justin said. "Though I'll be happy with anything as long as they're friendly."
"Whoever they are, I doubt they're as advanced as the Muggles back on Earth." Terry piped up. "We didn't detect any satellites in orbit, much less any ships."
"They're in for a shock then." Ron joined in. "Life from another world knocking at their door. Hopefully, we won't have to explain magic too."
"Oh, come on. That's the best part!" Sirius interjected. "It's always a treat to introduce Muggles to magic."
"I don't think it's a coincidence that the first planet with intelligent life we've come across is also the first on our list that's marked in the ship's database with the strange runes." Angelina said, her eyes never leaving the data-slate she had taken with her. "And if there is an actual correlation, we'll be able to considerably reduce the scope of our exploration."
While studying Requirement's original flight path and records, Angelina's team discovered some rather strange things. The ship visited thousands of life-bearing planets that, according to Muggle and Magical astronomers alike, should not exist. Stranger still, those planets were all identified in the database by a series of runes unlike any encountered on the ship before.
As if redefining everything they knew about science and meeting aliens wasn't enough, they now had mysteries about the very origin of life in the galaxy to investigate.
Harry was so glad he was still here to see it through. This was going to be fun.
Small tremors ran across the ship and a quick look above his shoulder showed Harry that the planet was now the only thing visible through the canopy as Ginny took them into the atmosphere.
"The inertial dampeners are having a hard time with the re-entry." Ginny called out from the cockpit. "It's gonna be a bit bumpy until we break through."
"One thing's for sure," Ron frowned as he and the others grabbed onto their harnesses to steady themselves. "I'm not looking forward to the walk through the desert. I did it once when I went to Egypt and it's not as fun as they make it out to be."
"As long as there's no giant worms under the dunes, I'll be happy." Lee said through chattering teeth as the turbulence intensified.
"I'm sure Ginny will find us a nice spot with plenty of shade near the city." Harry tried to reassure them, though the effect was diminished by the fervour with which he held on to the handles affixed on the ceiling.
"If she doesn't kill us all first." Zacharias muttered loud enough to be heard, despite the commotion.
Before Harry could reprimand him, the purring of the shuttle's engines that had accompanied them since they took off ceased and a sensation of weightlessness overtook him.
Time stood still for an instant.
Everyone in the compartment exchanged looks of panic as they realised what was happening.
"Merlin's saggy-"
"We've lost the main engines!" Ginny screamed.
Suddenly, they were falling. Cries of panic filled the shuttle as they grabbed onto their harness for dear life while Harry was hurled against the ceiling.
"Depulso!"
Before he could feel the impact he was bracing himself for, Ron's quick thinking sent Harry flying back into the cockpit.
Twisting in the air as if to apparate, Harry caught onto the copilot seat and pulled himself down on it before securing his harness.
"What the hell happened?"
"I don't know!" Ginny shouted back to be heard above the panicked cries from the rest of the team. "We were almost through when the engines died and I can't restart them!"
"Can you land this thing?"
"I'm trying!" Ginny bit back as she wrestled with the controls, flicking a few switches on the console to extend the wings' manoeuvering flaps. "It's not gonna be pretty, though."
"Right ... Helmets on, everyone!" Harry shouted toward the back of the ship as he put on his own. "We're going in!"
With some skilful manoeuvring, their fall turned into a bumpy glide which brought back some semblance of control over their fate. Despite Ginny's best efforts, their speed kept increasing, however, and they streaked above the desert and a city of yellow and white stone.
Harry didn't have time to enjoy the view, unfortunately, as he was more preoccupied with his attempts to send a distress message back to Requirement.
"—engines have failed and we have lost control. We are going in; Repeat, we are going—"
"Brace yourselves!"
The shuttle bounced back off the dunes, sending it spinning and throwing them against their harness in what Harry's errand thought compared to a theme park ride from hell. He lost count of how many times they hit the sand, the world beyond his seat melting away as he shut his eyes in an effort to lessen his throbbing headache and the pain of the harness biting into his shoulders.
They crashed into the last dune and the shuttle slid down its slope, its nose burying itself into the sand.
The ship had stopped moving, yet it remained inclined downward, sending everything that wasn't bolted down falling toward the canopy. Speaking off, while the window had survived the crash, it was now entirely buried. The only lights saving him from complete darkness were those of the console, and their flickering was not exactly reassuring.
While the simple fact that he was still breathing was a relief, it took a few minutes for the world to stop spinning and for the ringing in his ears to fade.
Unstrapping himself, he got up and carefully removed Ginny's harness. She was out cold, sprawled across the main console, but he could feel still a pulse beat under her suit. The pained moans and groans he heard above him also reassured him that everyone had gotten out of it without any serious injury.
Closing his eyes, Harry took deep, slow breaths to calm his beating heart and trembling hands.
Despite the universe's best efforts to the contrary, they were alive. There wasn't anything to fear.
There weren't any Death Eaters lying in wait, ready to pounce on them the moment they opened the door.
This had been an accident. A simple mistake while building the shuttle. Something they could fix.
Voldemort was gone and none of his schemes had survived him.
The scrapes and bruises would heal and the fear would fade, leaving only memories they would laugh about while drinking butterbeer once they got back to the ship.
Everything was fine.
"Harry? Ginny?" Ron's voice called out above him. "You alright down there?"
Harry let go of his breath, opening his eyes where determination shone once more.
"I'm good. But I'm gonna need your help."
Carefully, Harry and Ron sat Ginny's unconscious body against the shuttle, taking care not to hit her head on the metal surface. She had yet to wake up, and given the large dent on her helmet, each passing moment saw their worries grow.
Removing her helmet, Harry brushed her hair back from her face, finding nothing but freckled skin, unmarred by the blow the suit had endured. Despite their love of pranks, the twins did not joke around with the quality of their products.
He'd have to thank them once they got back.
Climbing out of the ship and down the dune, the rest of the team joined them under what little shade the wreck provided, grateful to have once again a more or less solid ground under their feet. While the others composed themselves, or disgorged what remained of their breakfast in a corner in Justin's case, Let and Terry had remained under the scorching suns to examine the dead engine.
"I knew it!" Their respite came to an end when Zacharias stumbled down the dune, his words laced with rage. "I knew this would happen! How could you let her pilot after all she's done?"
"Stand down, Smith." Getting up, Harry positioned himself between him and Ginny. "She's the one that saved us."
"Without her, we wouldn't have needed saving in the first place!"
"I said stand down."
They stood there, waiting for the other to make the first move.
Angelina stopped Sirius from stepping in while Ron remained close to Ginny, his wand in hand and the others took a step back, anxious as they watched and ready to step in.
"It was a mechanical error," Lee called out from atop the wreck, his hands still buried in the ship's inner parts. "The freezing draught burned out during the re-entry and the engines shut down when they overheated. There was nothing she could have done."
"I know this was a close call, and we're still shaken." Harry looked at everyone present, his thankful gaze lingering on Lee as he kept Zacharias well in sight. "But this would have happened regardless of who the pilot was."
Despite the rebuttal, Zacharias' ire did not dull. Standing tall, standing firm despite the tense atmosphere and Justin's knowing look, his hand remained poised to seize his wand.
With slow and deliberate movements, Harry stepped forward. He closed the distance between them and put a hand on Zacharia's shoulder, sensing him tense up under his touch.
"I know you can't forgive her for what happened," Harry spoke softly, keeping his weariness of an argument too often revisited out of his voice. "but this isn't the time or place to do this."
"And when will that be?" Zacharias muttered bitterly. "After her recklessness gets another one of us killed?"
"That wasn't—" Harry caught himself before he could raise his voice. No need to add fuel to the fire. "I promise you I won't let that happen. For now, can't you accept that she saved us and that we got more pressing things to deal with?"
"Fine." Zacharias stepped back and out of his grasp, his scowl still firmly in place. "On your head be it, Potter."
With the fear of a brawl passed, the others relaxed and went back to what they were doing, although they kept their voices low and worriedly looked above their shoulders from time to time.
Harry sighed as he watched Zacharias walk away and Justin join him. This was a far cry from how he had expected their first mission to go, but it seemed on par for the course of his life.
When they left Earth and the war behind, he had hoped that things would calm down. That they could focus on exploring and having fun without dragging along the grudge of the past and having to be the mediator for every little thing.
Had he known he would have to deal with all of this when they first found the ship, he would have ran for the hills when the others pushed the captaincy onto him.
Yet, despite everything, they had come out of this alive and mostly uninjured. Sure, the shuttle wouldn't fly anytime soon and the sooner he could get Ginny back in Requirement's infirmary, the better, but it could have gone much worse.
"So!" Harry exclaimed, getting everyone's attention. "How do we do this?"
"Do what?" Angelina asked with an inquisitive eyebrow raised.
"Make contact with the locals. We've come all this way, it'd be a waste to pack it up at the first bump on the road."
It took a minute for the others to get back some of their excitement, the shock of the crash dissipating as the prospect of first contact with aliens brought back animated discussions.
"We can't just show up on their doorstep."
"Why not? It'd be the polite thing to do."
"To them, we're the aliens. We risk frightening them."
"I think we're past that point already. Our crash was hard to miss, especially since we flew over their city on the way down."
"All the more reason to appear as peaceful as possible. We've made for a dreadful first impression"
"Not the worst we could have done. At least we didn't park Requirement right above their city."
"Speaking of, we should really let them know we're ok."
"And what do we do with the shuttle? Leave it here?"
"This mess isn't going anywhere. Worst-case scenario, we'll pick it up late with the ship."
"Can't we fix it?"
"Doubtful. Even if we had more freezing draught for the cooling system, some of the parts melted together. It's gonna need a lot of work."
"Maybe the locals will be able to help."
"From what I saw of their city, I doubt it." Ginny groaned behind them, silencing them in surprise as they turned to see her as she massaged her temples.
In a breath, Harry was kneeling beside her.
"You ok?"
"Yeah..." She smiled weakly. "Just don't ask me to do that again."
"We need to get her back to the ship." Ron came up to them. "Have Swansforth examine her."
"No." She shook her head, regretting it immediately with a wince. "I've come this far, I'm not going back now." Leaning on the shuttle's wreck, she stood up, stopping Harry from supporting her when she stumbled. Finding her balance, she took a few steps and looked around. "So, which way do we go?"
"I'd say this way is a safe bet." Sirius spared her a worried look before pointing above the opposing dune, where the golden tip of a giant structure could be seen gleaming in the distance.
"Let's just hope we haven't spooked them too much."
Even with the help of their suits, crossing the desert had been a brutal endeavour, made that much harder by the second sun bearing down on them. By climbing one last dune, their journey had come to an end and brought with it their promised reward of civilisation and fresh water. And yet, instead of rushing to the cold embrace of the first building they could find, the group stood atop the dune, transfixed by what they saw.
"We're sure this isn't Earth, right?" Ron asked.
"Pretty sure," Terry painstakingly answered as he helped Justin climb the last few meters to the dune's summit. "Considering the hundred light-years we crossed and the two suns above our heads."
"Ok. So why does it look like we just landed in ancient Egypt?"
Where they had been expecting a strange and alien city, the scenery offered to them was one that would have been at home in an archaeology book.
Their vantage point gave them an astonishing view of three intersecting rivers, impossible sources of life in a land of death that let plants and animals flourish in their wake. Bountiful fields filled with wheat, fruit-heavy trees and vegetables stretched as far as the eye could see. Large groups of people and caravans of large and hairy beasts walked the roads along the fields, converging toward the city.
And the city ... A forest of tents and stalls gradually gave way to increasingly grand and colourful stone buildings, the white base of their walls glowing under the suns and forming a shining halo surrounding the colossal pyramid erected in its centre. The wondrous monument was painted a white so pure that merely looking at it and its gold-plated summit was blinding, yet those brave enough to dare could make out the stylised—almost bird-like—shape of an eye engraved onto its sides.
"That's impossible..." Angelina breathed out.
"Don't these people look a bit too ... Humans to you?" Zacharias asked as he peered down the valley, using his hands to shield his eyes from the suns.
"Two arms, two legs, a head full of hair ... Yup. Definitely humans. With some nice specimens too ... And some really ugly beasts." Sirius remarked as he examined the caravans through a set of Omniculars, his gaze following certain figures more than others. "Did we go back in time?"
"Merlin, I hope not." Lee groaned. "I can't deal with a butterfly effect right now."
"Only one way to know for sure." Harry said as he took the first step down the slope. "Helmets off, everyone. We don't want to spook them."
As they climbed down the dune, their approach did not go unnoticed. Unrest grew in the masses below and by the time they had reached the first tents, dozens had gathered, led by a group of men in white robes arrived from the wealthier parts of the city.
Seeing them this close dispelled any lingering doubts as to the nature of these people. They were humans. Not even human-shaped aliens with weird nose-ridges or ears like you could see in the TV shows Lee loved so much, but as human as any of them.
Actual humans. A hundred light years from Earth.
What few clothes they wore were simple; sandals, kilts, and sleeveless dresses of rough fabrics were adorned with pearls or feathers that clashed against the full-body suits of the newcomers.
"Hello—"
Harry's greeting died in his throat when the sea of people in from of him fell to the ground in prostration, striking him and his companions speechless. Those wearing white robes, led by a man who looked older than even Dumbledore, bowed deeply yet stayed standing while their leader stepped forward.
"Welcome, messengers of the gods! We have eagerly awaited your return."
"Our ... return?"
"Yes!" The elder's enthusiasm was not diminished by his hesitation. "We have prayed each day for Ra's return, and he has rewarded our faith!" Ignoring or not noticing the incredulous looks shared by the supposed messengers, the man turned to his people with a fervour that betrayed his apparent age. "The envoys of the sun god have come down from the sky to bless us once more!"
This was all wrong.
They had come to meet aliens; To exchange their knowledge and cultures, not pose as gods to a lost human tribe, or whatever this was!
Curiosity, fear, confusion, hostility ... Those he could have dealt with and even understood.
But this?
"I think there's been a mistake here. You shouldn't ... We're not..."
His words failed him as the sheer size of the crowd prostrated before him overwhelmed him. It seemed to go on as far as the eye could see, straight out of some of his worst nightmares.
Tearing themselves from this spectacle, his eyes desperately searched for Justin's, pleading.
Stepping forward, Justin cleared his throat, a gleam in his eyes.
"Good people of Dakhla! We have come a long way—"
"So this Ra used to come here? You've seen him yourself?"
"Of course. Though these blessed times ended many moons ago. And when the head priest left with his guards, we grew worried that we had somehow offended the gods. But as you can see, we never wavered in our devotion."
Kherun—as they now knew the elderly man—led them into the city, enthusiastically pointing out the many statues and monuments along the way while answering Justin's questions. The rest of them walked a few steps back, observing the city and its people as they observed them. Their procession had gathered no small amount of onlookers, many falling to their knees and muttering prayers in their wake.
"This is gonna grow old quick." Ginny said as yet another group came out of a back street and threw themselves to the ground.
"It already has." Harry grumbled, trying his hardest to ignore the dozens of people lining the streets.
"Oh, lighten up." Sirius did not seem overly bothered by the situation and gleefully waved at the crowd. "Sure, we'll need to clear things up, but at least they're friendly."
"You can say that again." Lee greedily drank from the waterskin the locals had offered them.
"It's hard to blame them." Terry piped up "To them, our technology must look like some kind of divine magic."
"Still, I don't like that we're lying to them." Harry said, making sure none of the locals was close enough to hear. "This isn't right."
"We'll tell them who we are later." Zacharias replied. "There's too much we don't know, and we have better chances at getting answers if they think we're gods or whatever."
The closer they got to the city's centre and the pyramid, the more elaborate and opulent the buildings became. Hovels of dirt and wood gave way to grand stone buildings covered in colourful murals, their entrances guarded by statues. Seeing it from a distance had been one thing, walking through it and seeing these people was another entirely.
If not for the two suns shining high in the sky, Harry would have started to believe in the time travel idea.
But if this was the present, how did these people end up so far away from Earth? And why were they living according to a culture that had died out a thousand years ago?
And while Harry was far from an expert on ancient Egypt, he was pretty sure that their faith was quite varied, with dozens of funny-looking gods he remembered laughing at in the picture books Dudley had thrown away.
Every statue or mural they had passed so far depicted a falcon or a man with a falcon's head wearing a large round headset circled by a snake. And from what he understood of Angelina and Zacharias' excited rambling in the back of the procession, the symbol carved on the sides of the central pyramid was the Eye of Ra.
The opulent offerings placed under every statue they passed and the ramblings of their guide painted them as a devout people, yet why worship a single god? The two suns maybe?
"You know, when we left Earth I thought we'd get to visit alien cities with flying cars, teleporters and stuff like that. Not travel back to the dark ages." Ron broke his silence, his gaze examining every inch of the buildings around them as if searching for something. "It's weird."
"There are too many similarities with ancient Egypt for it to be a coincidence." Zacharias pointed out. "I don't know what it means yet, but this is huge."
"Sure, it looks similar, but..." Ron turned to Ginny, frowning "You noticed, right?"
"Yeah." she looked around, her expression quickly mirroring her brother's. "There are no writings. No hieroglyphs anywhere."
"Back on Earth, important stone buildings like this were covered in hieroglyphs." Ron answered Harry's questioning look. "Every wall was like a book. Hermione would have loved it." A dopey smile came to his lips before the frown came back in full force as he glared at the pyramid towering above the city. "And those were built away from the city."
"They're like big tombs for kings. They built them away from the city, with cemeteries all around." Ginny continued, dredging up memories of their trip, years ago. "It shouldn't be here."
"I'm not sure it's even a tomb." Angelina wondered as they emerged in an immense square with dozens of statues sprinkled around, their impressive size dwarfed by the pyramid erected in its centre. "It's clearly the heart of their religious activities. Maybe it's a temple?"
"Well, whatever it is," Harry said. "we're about to find out."
Kherun took some time to show off the most impressive statues in a not-so-subtle attempt to gain their approval before leading them into the pyramid itself. They passed through many antechambers and rooms full of treasures and offerings, amassed in the hope of placating their god. After dragging Ron by the scruff of his neck out of one such room when his fingers twitched a bit too much at the sight of the gold jewellery, they arrived at what their guide had hinted to be the largest and most important room.
And seeing it with his own eyes, Harry easily shared that belief.
"The Chappa'ai of Ra!" Kherun exclaimed devotedly. "See how we have tended to this most holy relic."
Against the far wall and set on a raised platform covered with offerings and steps leading to it, was a dark-grey metal ring, large enough for a car to go through. While the outer track was decorated by engraving and housed chevrons encased with orange crystals at regular intervals, the inner track was filled with familiar symbols.
Not too far from the platform, a round pedestal of the same dark grey material stood directly in front of the ring. Its top part was covered in button-like plates engraved with the same mysterious runes as the ring and arranged around a large red crystal polished into a half-sphere.
"Okay." Terry whistled in appreciation. "That is definitely not Egyptian. Nor human, for that matter."
"I think we can safely say we've found what we were looking for." Harry agreed, unable to look away from the device.
"More than you may think." Zacharias said as he walked away from the group and knelt before a wall. "Look here."
So surprised were they by the imposing alien relic that none besides him had noticed the hieroglyphs covering the walls of the chamber from floor to ceiling.
"Can you read it?" Harry asked as the others spread out around the chamber, to the delight of their host. "This might be the one chance we have of getting some answers here."
"We can certainly try." Angelina walked up to Zacharias, taking out her data-slate. "Professor Babbling broached the subject in our last year, but we moved on quickly. It'd certainly help if we had a point of reference."
"Kherun?" Harry called out their guide, his face strained in a smile. "Could you help my friends read what's written here, please?"
"Read?" Fear shock twisted Kherun's enthusiastic expression. After exchanging worried glances with his followers, he answered in a cautious tone. "Forgive me, exalted one, but the knowledge of these symbols is reserved for the gods. We could not possibly know what they mean."
"You don't know?" Harry frowned. "Then do you have any writing we could use as a reference? Any book or scroll would do."
Something seemed to click in Kherun's mind and his large grin came back.
"We do not, my lord. Please be assured that none among us have defied the edicts of Ra in his absence. We would never engage in such sacrilegious activities."
"You ..." Rendered speechless, it was Harry's turn to exchange worried looks with his team. "I see. That's good. You have done well." Harry tried to keep his growing worries bottled up and a semblance of confidence in his voice. "Can you tell me what this Chappa'ai is, then?"
"Of course!" Convinced that he had passed some kind of test, Kherun's excitement returned in full. "It is through it that Ra brought our people here, many generations ago. Our people were chosen before all others of the Tau'ri to serve him and inhabit his domain."
That ... was concerning.
After everything he had seen, Harry did not believe for one second that this "Ra" was anything but an alien with advanced technology. And if this Taur'i was what he thought it was, this "god" had visited Earth, thousands of years ago, and taken human slaves back with him.
Hell, if this had been going on for so long, there might be humans across the entire galaxy by now. It's not like there was a lack of alien abduction stories back on Earth.
The adoration and eagerness he could see on Kherun's beaming face reminded him far too much of Dobby's the first time he met him. Nothing he could say here would shake this man's faith.
But if this ring was some sort of transportation device, they needed to examine it. It might be the key to many of their problems.
They needed to know more. About this device, about these people and most importantly, about this god of theirs.
"Kherun. You've been a great help so far and we're thankful for your hospitality. Could you show us more of your city while some of my people pay their respects to the Chappa'ai? We'd like to make sure everything is in order."
"Of course, of course!" Kherun exclaimed. "Right this way, exalted one."
As the others began to vacate the chamber, Harry stayed behind with Angelina, Zacharias, Lee and Terry.
"I want to know what this is, how it works and who this Ra is. But more than anything, be careful." Harry told them quietly before he looked over his shoulder at the two guards who remained at the door. "We may not have much time before they understand we're not who they think we are."
"You got it." Lee smiled mischievously. "You couldn't pry me away from this thing anyway. I only got a quick look, but it's completely different from anything we've seen on Requirement."
"I'll look over them." Ginny stepped in. "It beats walking around in this heat."
"Are you sure?" From the corner of his eye, Harry watched as Zacharias examined one of the hieroglyph-covered columns, unaware of their discussion.
"Yeah." She smiled weakly, her expression strained with pain and weariness. "Sitting down while they work sounds fantastic right about now."
Oh how much he wished he could just whisk her away and strap her onto one of the infirmary beds. But captain or not, she would never let him.
"Alright. We'll keep in touch."
With the others and their chaperons out of their hair and back to their visit of the city, the researchers or the group could finally get some real work done.
Figuring out that the pedestal was a control panel for the ring did not take long, as pushing any of the "keys" on the device lit up one of the ring's chevrons. Similarly, Terry determined that the big red crystal served either as a confirmation or reset command—or possibly both—as pressing it powered the ring down.
And yet, despite this apparent simplicity of function, none of the symbol combinations they entered succeeded in activating the device. No matter the order or how many of the thirty-nine symbols they pressed, the ring would eventually power down.
While Terry continued to research the symbols and what code could possibly unlock the device, Lee was having a field day analysing its composition and inner workings.
The ring and the pedestal were almost entirely made out of an unknown element the likes of which was never seen on Earth. Every time a combination was confirmed on the pedestal, a massive surge of energy would course through the ring before dissipating, seemingly originating from the pedestal. The potential of a power source this small and powerful was invaluable and yet when Lee opened the back of the pedestal, the array of crystals he discovered had him at a loss.
Across the chamber, Angelina and Zacharias were not having any more luck deciphering the literal writings on the walls.
The dialect used here was completely different from what Angelina remembered from her studies, though that was to be expected. Languages changed a lot in a short amount of time and Egyptian hieroglyphs were among those that had changed the most during the thousands of years they were used. Being separated from Earth for just as long would have also caused the language to branch out and evolve in unique ways they could not even conceive yet.
Still, what little they knew gave them a base to work from and try to make heads or tails of these mutated pictograms. The pair sorely missed the reference material they had left aboard Requirement, however, but did not dwell too long on it. Who could have predicted that they would find ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs here of all places after all?
And yet, despite all of these hurdles, Angelina and Zacharias threw themselves into their work with a mad fervour. Beyond the obvious benefits they could gain from understanding what was written in this room, it provided a window into a part of history they knew almost nothing about.
For despite their long lives, the witch or wizard of Earth knew frighteningly little about Egypt and its history.
It was rumoured that the sorcerers of ancient times had ruled over the Muggles, building a prosperous empire and many grand monuments to their might. But before even the creation of the International Confederation of Wizards, the northern part of Africa had been sealed off from the rest of the magical world.
While muggle kingdoms flourished in the region, any living being with even the smallest spark of magic in them, be it plant, animal or human would wither away, leaving nothing but dust in a matter of minutes. Though many had speculated and theorised on the nature and origin of this curse, no definitive answer was ever found and that part of the world remained a mystery for the ages.
Through the centuries, explorers, researchers and renowned academics from the entire world tried to counter the curse and reclaim whatever remained of what was rumoured to be the pinnacle of magical civilization. Countless brilliant minds were lost in fruitless expeditions before the ICW came to be, officially declared the region to be off-limit and actively restricted any travel attempts.
Unbothered by the curse, the Muggles did not shy away from the desert and spent decades digging up all the priceless relics and ruins they could find, uncovering things that would have better been left buried. Cursed items and mommies were dug up and spread across the world, forcing the ICW to step in and cover things up to protect the Statute of Secrecy without any means to stop the source of these incidents.
It wasn't until a decade ago that the Goblins of Gringotts of all people discovered that the curse had disappeared as mysteriously as it had come. In an attempt to circumvent the ICW regulation and search for the famed vaults of the ancient kingdoms, they had dug tunnels under the Mediterranean Sand a calculation error saw them emerge in the desert.
Despite their best efforts to keep it to themselves, the news quickly spread and propelled the magical world into a new gold rush. Spearheaded by Gringotts, researchers, treasure hunters, tomb robbers and smugglers from across the globe came to Egypt in search of artefacts and buried riches that the Muggles had no way to discover.
To this day, the budding Egyptian magical community, supported by the ICW, has tried its best to regulate that mad scramble for treasure and knowledge. While they richly profited from all of this attention, they were also the first in line to uncover their past, what truly happened all those years ago and, most importantly, how to prevent it from happening again.
And now, a hundred light-years from Earth, a group of young witches and wizards were discovering that aliens had interfered in the ancient past of that region.
It wasn't hard for their minds to draw some hasty conclusions, yet a lot of work needed to be done before they could get some definite answers.
Unfortunately, without a concrete point of reference nor any similar material to draw from, none of the techniques they applied to the text bore any fruit and its meaning remained a mystery.
For hours, the four of them studied every inch of the room while Ginny sat on the edge of the ring's platform, and they could have continued for hours more.
After another failed attempt to activate the ring, however, it emitted two high-pitched sounds and the chevrons began to light up one by one.
"Guys?" Terry called out with a trembling voice. "I'm not doing this."
The others turned from their work, looking at the ring in wonder as Ginny jumped to her feet.
"Pick up your gear, we're disappearing." She ordered, her helmet already back on her head. They remained immobile, unsure of what to do. "Now!"
Rushing to comply, the researchers picked up the tools and data-slates they had scattered around and activated the invisibility modules of their suits. They disappeared from view just as the last chevron lit up and the guards stepped inside the chamber, spears raised.
Blue energy came out of the ring's inner track, converged in its centre and burst outward, vaporizing the offerings on its path before collapsing backwards into a puddle that filled the inner part of the ring.
A small metal sphere came out of the puddle, rolled down the steps and stopped at the feet of the guards. Despite their confidence in their suit's prowess, every one of them held their breath when an elongated beam came out of the sphere and washed over the room.
"Captain," Angelina whispered in the confines of her helmet after activating her communication stone. "Something's happening."
One of the guards picked up the sphere while the other looked around—no doubt searching for the invisible researchers—when a dozen armoured figures stepped out of the puddle.
Wielding long metal staves and dressed in chain mail and armoured plates, their heads were hidden behind large metal helmets shaped in the form of cobra's head, their eyes made of glowing rubies.
The guards raised their spears in alarm, taking a step back as the puddle disappeared behind the newcomers.
"Jaffa." The man around which the other aliens were positioned called out. "Kree!"
The first of the serpent-headed men lowered their staves, their bulbous ends opening and blasts of energy burst forth, killing the guards where they stood.
In orbit, far from everything, Hermione sat in front of Requirement's main console, reviewing the data she had received from the shuttle before its untimely accident.
Around her, the bridge crew busied themselves by exchanging theories about what was happening on the planet below. It had been hours since the last check-in by the away team and their news of an ancient city straight out of the history books had fuelled many a conversation that kept distracting her from her work.
She was about to call it quit and leave when one of the consoles emitted a low-pitched sound, silencing everyone.
"That's new." Marietta said as she walked up to her console.
"Is something wrong?" Hermione put down her data-slate on the blueprint she had been examining.
"I don't know ... The ship detected an energy signature I've never seen before."
"From the planet?"
"No ... right next to us."
Out of the great vaulted window, they saw a blinding flash of light, like a crack in the fabric of reality as two ships—made out of a black superstructure surrounding a golden pyramid—exited hyperspace and settled into orbit.
"We have company."