It was morning, and at the front of the hotel, reclining on a lounger under the shade of an umbrella, was a frankly gorgeous redheaded girl. She was wearing a bikini, sunglasses, and sipping a glass of juice through a straw, projecting the image of someone enjoying the good life without a single hint of worry, a placid smile painted on her face.
"You know, even if we are in the tourist area, your exhibitionism might be a bit... questionable for the locals. Remember you don't look like a little girl anymore," I remarked as I walked over to sit in the adjacent armchair. The truth was it didn't bother me at all, but I said it purely for amusement upon seeing Ginny so at ease. "Look at Luna: she adapted perfectly to blend in with the surroundings."
Not far away, sitting on another chair, was Luna wearing a loose-fitting dress that covered her entire body and a hijab over her head, engrossed in reading a book about native magical creatures. Thanks to the translation device, the language of the books was not a problem in the slightest.
Ginny didn't even get up; she merely pushed her sunglasses up for a second and returned to her comfortable position. In fact, she arched a bit more on the lounger as if stretching, just to flaunt the slender figure of the illusion and contradict me. She even ran her hand over her curves while letting out a fake groan just to tease me.
"Fine; when they come to lynch you, don't complain," I said, reclining beside her. "Mum and Dad are taking us to the pyramids later. Do you want to go in your real body, or will you take control of the clone?"
"I'll go in person," she replied after taking another sip of her drink. "I already felt humiliated enough not being able to defend myself in the sand fight. Do you seriously think I'm that weak? If I had been there with my true body..."
"You would have had to fake the exact same weakness," I interrupted before she could continue.
Ginny didn't say another word; she simply grumbled while pulling the straw out of her glass to splash me with the sugary liquid. I rolled my eyes at her tantrum, though I found it adorable to see her react like that while sporting that adult appearance. Deep down, I hoped that even as time passed and she grew up, she would always keep that little girl I loved so much... brotherly things.
"Anyway, I'll go in my real body," she insisted. "I want to be ready for whatever comes."
"What do you expect? Are we going to fight a mummy or a lich? We're just touring a pyramid like tourists; I don't think anything extraordinary is going to happen," I teased.
"I'd like to meet a mummy... There would be so much to ask. Though I don't speak Ancient Egyptian..." Luna chimed in, growing reflective.
"Bill's always talking about his work. Maybe we'll get lucky and run into some ancient curse," Ginny added, settling back into her chair.
"First: I don't think that'll happen. Second: I don't think they'd let us. Third: it's a terrible idea while we're with the family," I corrected point by point.
"Mmm... Then I suppose we'll have to come back later on our own," Ginny huffed.
"You're getting way too spoiled," I said, rolling my eyes.
Ever since we started these escapades doing as we pleased, Ginny had become much more uninhibited, to the point where she now seemed to want to look for trouble in the magical world. I already had enough dealing with the Muggle environment, where besides dodging the police, I had to erase our tracks from the local Aurors we had already alerted. Fortunately, I executed flawless damage control; otherwise, this would have turned into a bigger mess that, while not affecting us directly, would have brought serious trouble for our family. After all, we arrived right when the altercations started and the tension with foreigners was already quite high.
...
"Come on, family, smile!" Arthur requested, observing his wife and children.
All the Weasleys and the Lovegoods were standing on the sand with the majestic pyramids in the background, accompanied in the distance by some locals. A local man was holding the camera my father had bought, focusing on us to immortalize the moment. As soon as the flash went off, my father hurried over to check the result, wearing that genuine bliss of someone who treasures every single moment of a vacation.
The picture looked ordinary, but once treated with the revealing potion, it would gain the exact same mobility as any photograph from the magical world.
"I'll send a copy to my coworkers. Diggory keeps sending me letters asking how we're doing; sounds like he's planning to go on a trip with his family too," my father commented as he returned to show us the shot.
It was an immensely joyful moment for everyone: my parents beaming, the twins practicing their own version of "sand control," Charlie chatting with Xenophilius about Romanian dragons, Ron arguing with Percy, the girls sharing whispers... And me, for my part, snapping several more photos on the sly. Without a doubt, they would make excellent birthday gifts in the future.
"Dad, we're ready to go in," Bill announced after checking his watch.
"Oh, that's right! Let's go..." my father hurried, despite having been the one to delay the departure.
Bill became our guide and led us straight toward the pyramids where he used to work. In the distance, numerous Muggle tourists thronged, eager to gaze at these wonders of the ancient world; we, on the other hand, glanced at them in passing, since we weren't here to tour the mundane facade of the tombs, but rather their magical dimension.
Taking a reserved passageway, we reached a secret entrance guarded by wizards and wasted no time stepping into the great tomb. It was fascinating to discover that there were many more pyramids than the Muggle world suspected—all hidden by powerful camouflage enchantments—and even the best-known ones only revealed a fraction of their real structure to non-magical eyes.
The lighting and temperature changed abruptly: we left behind the suffocating desert sun to be welcomed by the cool atmosphere of the building and its magical torches. We soon reached what could be considered the main reception area, managed by a goblin similar to those at Gringotts.
Bill went ahead to handle the paperwork and certify our access while the rest examined the hall. The room was colossal on its own, undoubtedly expanded via an Undetectable Extension Charm. Even in the presence of other wizards and entire families of visitors besides us, the space didn't feel crowded at all. In the non-magical world, a lobby of such dimensions would have left the pyramid with no capacity for more cameras; here, however, this was barely the foyer. On the walls were carefully restored carvings, reliefs, and hieroglyphs portraying the history and exploits of ancient wizards.
"Those wands are weird," Ron noticed, pointing at one of the inscriptions.
"They're actually scepters, a different format," I explained. "They aren't made anymore because they're expensive and because the magic used in ancient Egypt had a different format. For modern magic, wands offer far greater efficiency."
"That's right. In fact, I visited a local wandmaker's shop and there were some replicas there, even wands modified to look like them," Charlie added beside me. "They explained to me that you could commission ancient scepters made with traditional techniques, but they're extremely rare. They require quite a bit of gold among other materials and are sought after more for ceremonial display than for actual utility."
"Gold? Do you think we could find some of that around here?" Fred asked with a spark of greed.
"Any other treasure would suit us just as well," George finished.
"We're here for a cultural visit, not to loot tombs!" our mother immediately scolded them.
"You shouldn't get your hopes up too much either," Bill intervened, returning after sealing the permits. "Gringotts already inspected this place from top to bottom. Everything that wasn't left exposed for study or exhibition was removed or placed under severe curses. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about," he smiled smugly. "Finding hidden loot is almost impossible; and if you did stumble upon a secret chamber that Gringotts missed, it would most certainly be guarded by the worst black magic imaginable."
Several visitors outside our group, as well as my own brothers, listened closely to the warning. Some panicked at the mere mention of curses, while others' eyes glittered at the fantasy of getting rich overnight.
Without making us wait any longer, Bill led the march toward the depths of the tomb.
We entered a narrow passage where barely two people could walk side by side. The walls looked finely sculpted, and the lighting depended on a network of enchanted torches. After a stretch of walking, we emerged onto a stone platform equipped with a sturdy balustrade overlooking a dizzying central abyss: the magical pyramids not only rose toward the sky, but extended a large part of their architecture underground. To one side, a freight elevator was installed that would allow us to descend through the imposing shaft.
Bill's plan was well-defined: take us down to the deepest allowed level and then explore upward floor by floor. Thanks to his accreditation as a Curse-Breaker, we had access to areas forbidden to the average tourist, though certain critical areas remained restricted. Nor did he intend to expose the family to real dangers, limiting himself to showing us a few minor, deactivated curses as a curiosity.
We boarded the wooden platform and began the descent. As we slowly lowered ourselves down the center of the pyramid, we observed the numerous branches and passageways awaiting us on each level. The slow journey sparked comments and conjectures among everyone.
Upon hitting rock bottom on that first leg, Bill guided us down a secondary corridor until we found a second, smaller freight lift, with which we descended a bit further.
"Alright, we've reached the deepest safe level," Bill announced as he gathered us all together. "This section still carries some risk, so stay together and don't touch anything without my authorization. We'll tour the lower part and from here we'll gradually work our way up."
Before proceeding, he went over the safety rules one by one, placing heavy emphasis on each of them. My father, out of pure instinct, grabbed the twins by the collars of their coats to keep them from darting off to snoop, besides warning them seriously to listen to their brother. Mum tried the same maneuver with Ron and me, but my attitude was so flawless and docile that my brother ended up absorbing all the attention from her scoldings.
We followed Bill inside a tunnel of rustic masonry, very different from the elaborate stonework of the upper level.
"This access was artificially excavated by Gringotts Curse-Breakers after an enormous effort to drill through rock reinforced with ancient magic," Bill explained to us, raising his glowing wand to light the way. "The original passage leading to the chamber we're heading to is riddled with traps and lethal enchantments; it was necessary to open this alternative route to bypass the danger entirely, though we tried to alter the original structure as little as possible. This forced passage already shows just how terrifying the main corridor is. I'll show it to you from a safe distance, but don't you dare cross the safety barrier."