Chapter 4 - From al-Qahirah to Aleksandreia

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters belong to JK Rowling.

Chapter 4 - From al-Qahirah to Aleksandreia

Charlie sat on the Hathor Express and stared out of the window as the train crossed the bridge from the Nile island of Gezira into Cairo. The new, modernised Egyptian Ministry of Magic was located on the island, hidden from Muggle sight alongside its Muggle counterpart. He and Ron had taken the International Floo Connection from Bucharest into Cairo, and now they were headed west to Cairo's magical community where Bill and Fleur had made their home.

"Why do we have to take the train?" Ron's voice was petulant. "We could have Apparated, you know."

Charlie glanced up at his brother, who was slouching on the opposite seat. He sighed. The trip had been tense so far, with Ron acting like Charlie had committed a criminal offence by wanting to leave him with Bill (when the little brat had actually asked Bill if he could stay with him). Charlie was trying to take it all in stride, but still couldn't believe how much his brother had changed in the last year.

"I like taking the train out from Gezira. The scenery is amazingly exotic," Charlie said mildly.

He ignored the annoyed huff from the other side of the compartment, as well as the muttered, "S'not like you've never been here before."

The modern buildings, wide streets, public gardens, and open spaces of the newer, eastern half of Cairo gradually changed as the train chugged toward the older, western parts. Here the scenery was more haphazard: narrow lanes, crowded tenements, and hundreds of ancient mosques hinted at a country with a varied and rich history.

Using the quiet time to reflect, Charlie thought about the conversations he'd had just before they had left Romania early that morning. Tonks had Floo'd with news about the blue grass that she had collected at the dragon killing site. According to Neville Longbottom, the grass itself was native to Ethiopia. Although, in this modern day and age, seeds for all types of grasses were readily available from any Herbologist, and could be grown anywhere with the appropriate greenhouse charms in place. That had not been much help to further the investigation.

Of greater interest was that the grass had apparently been soaked in a powerful sedative potion. The potion had likely been carefully selected, for laboratory tests had indicated that it wouldn't have taken much of it to down a dragon. Incongruously enough, though, it would have been nearly impossible for the dragon to actually die from inhalation of the potion-soaked grass.

Charlie shuddered at the realisation that the Father had been alive when his head had been sliced open. The news suggested that whoever had killed the Father had been very careful to keep him alive until they had harvested what they had sought.

Answering the mystery of the origin of the blue grass had only triggered more questions that demanded to be answered. The most pertinent of these was why the killers had required the dragon to be alive. Why had they not killed the dragon?

Since Charlie wasn't entirely knowledgeable on the field of potions, he'd contacted somebody who thrived on answering such questions... Hermione Granger (with a Silencing Charm around the Floo while Ron had still been sleeping, of course).

An odd smile came to Charlie's face as he thought about his brother's one time girlfriend. It hadn't taken a genius to figure out that they wouldn't last long. During the war, Hermione had announced that she'd had enough of Ron's possessiveness. The ensuing personal war between them had almost divided the Order, with Molly practically calling for Hermione's head. Charlie reflected that it couldn't have been very easy for Harry during that time, fighting his lifelong nemesis in the strained atmosphere between his two best friends.

She had seemed a lot less stressed than when he'd seen her last, just after the war. He remembered his father mentioning that she was an absolute workaholic; a fact that was a little at odds with the serene woman sitting comfortably in a cosy armchair, her knees drawn up to her chin.

By the end of their brief conversation, Charlie had been very glad to have Floo'd Hermione for her perspective because (as always) she'd been incredibly insightful and helpful.

She worked for the Ministry of Magic in the Magical Patents Office, testing all new potions that were submitted for patenting. She said that if Tonks hadn't already had the residual potion tested, that she would be more than willing to test it for its individual components. She'd seemed very interested in a sedative potion that could topple a dragon in such a short period of time.

In terms of research about dragons, Hermione had been a little less knowledgeable, but she'd been full of praise for the Wizarding Library at Alexandria: "Oh, Charlie, you have to see the library to believe it. I was there last year with Se- Snape, for research on one of his patents, and I almost didn't want to go home, I swear."

And she mentioned that one of her friends from Hogwarts, Luna, worked at the library, and would probably be more than willing to help him find whatever he needed. He'd chuckled a little at her added, "If you're patient," because Hermione had to be one of the most impatient people that Charlie knew.

The wizarding community of Alexandria was remarkably similar to the one in Cairo, where Charlie had dropped off Ron and visited with Bill and Fleur the previous evening.

The trading centre was obviously magical, but completely unlike Diagon Alley in most respects. Where the cobbled streets in London held an 'Old World' charm, the dusty alley in Alexandria was slightly overwhelming. Stalls of vibrant silk lined the already narrow main street, and exotic smells enticed the shoppers to stop here, taste there.

Charlie stopped outside a Magical Creatures shop for a moment, unable to resist the Magizoologist's call. He gazed, enthralled, at the rainbow-bright Fwoopers in gilded cages that sang silently behind ironclad Silencing Charms. A sphinx gazed unblinkingly at the crowds (Charlie gave her a wide berth), a magnificent scarlet and gold phoenix trilled musically at passers-by, and bejewelled scarab beetles clicked irritably in boxes. Charlie loved the variety of Magical Creatures that could be seen in different countries across the globe.

As he moved onwards up the street, Charlie could barely hear himself thinking above the din; merchants haggled loudly over the price of a cauldron or a particularly fine bolt of robe material, and the murmuring rise and fall of voices from crowds of shoppers buzzed randomly from all directions.

He let out a sigh of relief as he turned into a quieter side street that wound through the small apartments off the main shopping street. Children played in the shade, within protective Intruder Charms; little toffee-skinned urchins who gazed up curiously at the foreigner with the flaming-red hair and rugged looks. He waved cheerfully and grinned and then winked at a small crowd of teenaged girls who giggled furiously and whispered behind their hands.

He reached the gates of the wizarding Library and took a breath of awe, his eyes widening at the magnificent building that held the wizarding world's historical intellectual wealth. Charlie had little doubt that had Alexander the Great been alive he would have included this elegant architecture on his Wonders list.

Beyond the elegantly crafted gates, a long stone pathway led the eye through magnificently landscaped gardens and up a broad flight of stairs to the elegantly colonnaded portico. The polished white stone almost put Gringotts of London to shame, and the various small turrets and levels boasted elegantly rounded, gilded domes that glittered in the afternoon sunlight.

Charlie meandered towards the entrance of the library, and every now and then, he tilted his head back to enjoy the glow of warmth on his face and the scents of the magically enhanced gardens. He smiled at the strange juxtaposition of this corner of this small paradise with the busy, noisy world beyond the gates.

He stepped through the tall entrance and raised an eyebrow as he felt the telltale frisson of magical charms wash against his skin, tickling lightly. He turned back to gaze back towards the garden and was impressed. Not even a shimmer of warning that the charms were in place. Must have been a highly talented Charms Master, he thought. He could tell that there was a sound-dampening charm in place, as well as a climate control charm and he chuckled softly as he realized there was a dust removal charm in place also; his leather jacket and heavy dragon hide boots were cleaner than they'd been since ...­ well, since he'd bought them.

Here, out of the sunlight and in the cool shadows, it was peaceful; all the hubbub of the outside world shut away. Charlie could already smell the scent of old parchment, and he could see why this was one of Hermione's favourite places in the world.

Across the entrance hall, a young witch was talking with an elderly looking, scholarly man and Charlie patiently moved to the display table against the side of the room, waiting to ask for directions to the Magical Creatures (or dragons) section of the Library.

He picked up a pamphlet idly and read the first page, giving a quiet, "Huh." You learn something new everyday, he thought. He'd never known that this library had originally been part of a larger library, shared with Muggles:

Bibliotheca Alexandrina: The Royal Library of Alexandria - A Wizarding Perspective

In the late fourth century, persecution of pagans by Christians reached new levels of intensity. In 391, Emperor Theodosius I ordered the destruction of all pagan temples, and Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria complied with his request. Temples and statues were destroyed throughout the Roman Empire. Pagan rituals became forbidden under punishment of death."

"Uh, hmm."

Charlie glanced up when the witch at the desk cleared her throat softly, as though to catch his attention. He stuffed the pamphlet into his jacket pocket and walked towards her, smiling his most charming smile. "Morning, ma'am," he greeted cheerfully, smiling. "I'm looking for the Magical Creatures section, please."

She gave him directions and told him that the librarian there would be able to assist him with any searches he wanted to make. A gallant grin and wink later, Charlie set off up two flights of stairs, taking them three steps at a time. He felt ...­ better than he had in weeks. Perhaps it was mean-spirited of him to be glad that he'd left Ron with Bill and Fleur, but right now, he had other things than Ron to be concerned about. The most important of those was discovering why the Romanian dragon had been killed, for in the wizarding world, an obscure motive was never good news.

The Magical Creatures section was enormous with bookshelves and scroll filing systems that reached up to the soaring roof. His mouth fell to the floor as he realised how pitiful his prized collection was in comparison to this wealth of knowledge that had been preserved and treasured by generations of witches and wizards.

He had no idea where to start looking, so he wandered up the first aisle in search of the section librarian. Somehow, calling out in the sacred quiet seemed sacrilegious and he took the time to tilt his head sideways, examining the titles along time-cracked leather spines. He soon discovered that tracing his fingertips along the spines was not an option. A protective charm seemed to be in place on all the bookshelves.

He turned the corner to the second aisle and saw ...­ an angel? The low afternoon sunshine that streamed in through a two-story high window backlit somebody floating at head height, their silvery hair gleaming and creating a halo effect. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he realised that it was a witch standing on a levitating platform, shelving several scrolls of age-yellowed parchment.

Clever, he thought. Much safer than the ladders that Madam Pince had implemented at Hogwarts. But those wouldn't be at all effective in a library where the shelves were at least four times taller than those at Hogwarts. Although, he mused, the platform isn't really conducive to looking up robes.

What looked like a brightly coloured peacock feather, a pair of chopsticks, a wand, and a pencil were all securing her hair, and stuck out in odd directions from her head. She wore a silvery-blue robe with a metallic sheen that shimmered in the bright sunlight.

She held out an index finger in his direction, obviously gesturing that she'd be with him in a moment, as she carefully filed the last ancient scroll. The platform lowered slowly and she turned, gazing at him frankly with large grey eyes. Glittering, swaying wire pyramids hung from her ears and she wore a silver necklace with a plethora of charms dangling from it: an owl, a crystal ball, broom, a witch's hat-

He shook himself, realising he'd been staring at her unusual charm necklace. "Good afternoon," he said, watching as she stepped off the platform, still gazing at him with that frank look that made him feel rather uncomfortably scrutinised.

She smiled at him, and Charlie could have sworn the sunlight around her increased in intensity. "Hello, there. Oh, let me guess. You're a Weasley. You'd have to be with all that red hair, only you're far better looking than the other Weasleys I've met already," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Charlie was slightly taken aback by her straightforward manner. "I ... er ­... yeah, Charlie Weasley." Oh, well done, Charlie.­ Very smooth that was, mate.

"Well, nice to meet you, Charlie Weasley," she said, stepping forward with her hand extended. "I'm Luna Lovegood."

A/N: Thank you to WickedlyWanton, who is the most incredible beta; her suggestions and encouragement are invaluable.

The picture of the Library of Alexandria was taken from a Google image search. The little history lesson was woven together from a number of (conflicting, might I add) history sites.