Our family stepped into a singularly styled inner chamber. In the center stood a square stone structure that suggested a sepulcher, though it remained empty. Scattered throughout the room were various artifacts eroded by the passage of time, alongside a few gold objects and treasures that had managed to retain their luster.
Bill warned us not to touch anything, but took the opportunity to explain the room's peculiarities, the history of the pyramid, and various customs of ancient Egypt. He detailed what his daily work consisted of and, through a brief charm, demonstrated how certain curses and vestiges of ancestral magic still remained active. The most dazzling moment occurred when the reliefs on the walls and ceiling lit up with tiny, glowing points that replicated the starry firmament of that era.
"Whoaaaaa..." echoed a unanimous exclamation.
It was a captivating spectacle for anyone... though for me, it was familiar territory. I mastered that kind of magic and knew details that probably not even the restricted sections of Gringotts kept in their archives. After countless campaigns and board missions across different eras, my inventory of knowledge was infinitely superior. However, I preferred not to show off or reveal that the walls concealed additional relics that could only be activated by solving the astronomical puzzle. Sooner or later, archaeologists would end up discovering it; without proper maintenance, the mechanism would eventually fail over the decades or centuries.
From inside the chamber, one could catch a glimpse of the main passage, which was riddled with traps. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary hallway, but according to Bill, it had claimed the lives of more than a dozen institution employees and countless looters who ventured in blindly.
We returned through the same artificial tunnel to continue the tour. Noticing Bill's meticulous explanations of the local enchantments, several tourists latched onto our group. The official guide—an Egyptian expert—didn't mind the intrusion and chose to coordinate efforts with my brother: while Bill analyzed the magical and defensive aspects, the guide covered the historical context. The combination provided an exceptionally enriching tour, though the narrowness of the galleries forced us to move in a tight huddle, under the watchful gaze of Gringotts personnel guarding the restricted accesses to prevent unauthorized detours.
The passage through that section was brief; aside from the central room, we only stopped at a couple of specific points before climbing a stone staircase leading to a clearer upper level.
We advanced through short passages interspersed with various rooms, a layout that reminded me of the architecture of Castelobruxo Castle. Bill clarified to us that these pyramids weren't designed solely as mausoleums, but also as sanctuaries, fortresses, and assembly halls. Unlike Muggle tombs, they housed alchemy workshops, magical training areas, storehouses, and residential quarters. Those colossal complexes usually belonged to a master who erected them during their lifetime as a stronghold to train their disciples, ultimately serving as their dwelling of eternal rest.
"Alright, pay attention from here on," Bill warned with a mischievous smile as he led us toward a break that returned the environment to a rugged, rocky appearance with a cobbled floor. "There are some deactivated or dampened traps; even if they don't pose a mortal risk, they can give you a good scare. Better safe than sorry."
Among the tourists following us, looks of unease mingled with gestures of enthusiasm. My brothers belonged to the latter: as worthy Gryffindors, their boldness bordered on reckless, trusting that Bill wouldn't lead them into real danger. However, my parents reacted in time and grabbed the twins by the collars before they could bolt forward.
Barely a few steps after the warning, the floor gave way slightly and the first trap went off in true Indiana Jones fashion. As someone stepped on one of the tiles of the cobbled framework, the nearly imperceptible holes in the walls began to release a high-pressure burst of compressed air in the form of white vapor.
My reaction was instantaneous. With a swift movement, I pulled a handful of seeds from my pocket and, casting a simultaneous charm on them while they flew through the air, made them sprout into thick, greenish plant roots. The plants expanded over the stonework, sealing every cavity in the wall. Before the air flow could reach Ginny, Luna, or me, the roots blossomed into magenta buds that absorbed the residual gas at high speed.
My reflex maneuver was as surprising as the mechanism's activation. However, although I managed to cover our position, the people walking behind us took the full blast of the vapor.
"It got me! Something got me!" shouted a fellow jumping around in a panic as he frantically checked his body.
"I don't want to die!" a woman next to him exclaimed.
"Ventus!" a wizard cast in vain upon himself.
"It hit my son! Call a healer!" a desperate mother pleaded.
"Arthur?" Molly asked, alarmed, as the cloud of vapor surrounded them, caught between confusion and surprise at my magical display.
Hysteria broke out among the tourists, who demanded answers from the guides and venue staff. To their bewilderment, the employees and Curse-Breakers merely sketched complicit, indifferent smiles, accustomed to witnessing the exact same scene with every group of visitors.
"Relax, nothing's wrong," Bill laughed. "In the past, this trap was supposed to release some damaging potion or a vaporized poisonous agent. However, even before Gringotts set up shop here, the compound had been expired for centuries, and the trap was almost harmless. It stays active so we can study its mechanisms and teach visitors how these kinds of defenses worked. Right now, it just released pressurized air."
The tourists let out a long sigh of relief; some relaxed while others protested to the staff over the scare. My mother glared at Bill for giving them such a fright, but he only shrugged.
Naturally, attention immediately shifted to me, given that I had reacted with such unusual speed and methods. Everyone stared at the vegetation covering the wall; especially the site's employees, who eyed me with suspicion, and Bill, who looked at the wall with patent curiosity.
"Red, is this...?" he asked, stepping closer.
"A technique learned in the Amazon during my trip to Castelobruxo," I replied with absolute naturalness.
Looks of astonishment multiplied. Very few wizards possessed that level of reflexes and such a repertoire. The mention of Brazilian techniques intrigued those present, as almost none of had witnessed plant magic of that caliber, let alone in an arid environment like Egypt. Most would have opted for a generic protective charm without knowing if it would hold, given that the tomb was designed to repel both Muggles and wizards.
"It's amazing... Honestly, I'm glad you had the opportunity to go," Bill commented with a touch of nostalgia, remembering that he too would have visited Castelobruxo if he'd had a better financial situation. "But we have to clear this away. We can't damage the trap; it's both an object of study and a historical record. We need to remove the plant..."
"Don't worry, it resolves itself," I said, pointing to the wall.
The thick green layer covering the stone began to wither at a staggering pace. The roots turned brown, shriveled, and disintegrated into ash that fell to the floor, leaving the wall in its original state.
"It didn't break anything. It's a magically modified strain derived from Devil's Snare: it lacks the force to damage the structure, but possesses an instantaneous expansion capacity to seal cavities. I have more complex varieties, though truth be told, I haven't quite mastered this completely. If you want to see a true jungle witch, you'd have to watch Hannah; she has truly perfected this art."
My words sowed fascination among those present, both in my family and among the tourists. Due to the events following my trip and the wand incident, my stay in Castelobruxo hadn't been discussed in great detail, but now everyone remembered that I had traveled to a distant land. What at the time seemed like an ordinary academic trip proved to have been quite an adventure with extraordinary rewards. The twins, who lacked any patience, threw themselves at me to pepper me with questions.
"Red, if we'd known you had something of that level stashed away, we wouldn't have left you alone for a single second!"
"Exactly. It's not that we were ignoring you, it's that we didn't know you had such cool stuff! What else do you have in there?"
The hallway filled with murmurs until the Gringotts staff finished inspecting the trap. After giving me and the rest of the group a stern warning about preserving the site, we resumed our march. Although my family had plenty of questions, they decided to postpone the interrogation until we returned to the hotel. However, several young tourists approached me to strike up a conversation along the way.
Confident that active mechanisms still remained, the group advanced with much more caution. The guides continued detailing the historical functions of the complex and certain peculiarities of ancient Egyptian magic. A couple of local employees even performed small demonstrations of arcane enchantments at Bill's request. That millennia-old magic contrasted considerably with modern magic, and while some found it a dense topic, for others it proved to be a valuable cultural exchange.
We continued touring the chambers of the intermediate level, which concentrated the highest density of defenses as it served as the division between the surface and the deep rooms. Unlike the lower floors, mechanical devices predominated over magical ones here, as Curse-Breakers had already neutralized most of the dangerous enchantments.
Setting a brisker pace, I stepped ahead alongside Bill to keep up with him. Showing no unease, I perfectly mimicked his every movement, foot placement, and even his brief magical gestures to bypass traps that the visitors behind us didn't even perceive. The detail didn't go unnoticed by my brother or my parents, whose faces reflected growing surprise. Just as I had planned, I was beginning to reveal my brilliance gradually.
Bill, noticing this, felt a certain admiration for my skill, but flexing his older brother role, decided to seize the opportunity to teach me a lesson about how "dangerous" an ancient building could be.
Intending to give me a controlled scare, he slipped subtly to the left for no apparent reason, prompting me to overtake him on the right. The exact moment I stepped forward at a specific spot in the passageway, heavy iron spears shot out from the wall toward my side.
Before the tips could get close, an invisible force field emanated from my wand. The trap's mechanism collided against the magical barrier with a dull click, without even generating a breeze to ruffle my hair as I kept walking as if nothing happened.
Bill's eyes widened at my absolute indifference and my reflexes. My mother nearly had a heart attack witnessing the scene, but upon examining the device, everyone noticed a detail: the spears were short and lacked their tips. Even if I hadn't deployed the shield, the trap never would have hit me because it had been trimmed beforehand by the magi-archaeologists; it was only meant to startle a passerby... but the reaction surpassed all expectations.
"Woah... Red, I have to admit you leave me speechless," Bill acknowledged with a smile of genuine respect. "You should consider becoming a Curse-Breaker. If I talk to my superiors, I'm sure they'd give you an internship. You're perfect for this; we could work together."