บท 54: Chapter 54
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After a while, the passage split off into several more, but Snyde knew her way around. As they moved through the temple, she even narrated some of the temple's history, as well as Ramesses II's.
"Pharaoh Ramesses II was, like many other Pharaohs, a wizard. He and his Queen Nefertari stood as the two greatest wizards of their time, known worldwide for their magical prowess. Of course, as is often the case, Queen Nefertari was overshadowed by Ramesses, although she was just as great a witch and arguably brought more to the wizarding world than he did."
"What would that be?"
"For Ramesses, he was an expert of the mind arts, first and foremost. He was said to be capable of subduing close to fifty people at the same time with his mind alone. He was also a fantastic Charm Master, and back then, there were no distinctions between dark and light magic, so it can be assumed he was a master of both."
Tracey asked curiously, "What about Queen Nefertari, then?"
Instead of Snyde, it was Henry who answered, "Queen Nefertari was an expert in transfiguration, and especially self-transfiguration. Most notably, she created the Animagus spell, which allows wizards to turn into animals."
Snyde smiled and said, "As expected of the Flash Wizard. I never got to see you in action, but I heard you were quite the expert in self-transfiguration yourself."
Henry smiled politely, while Tracey whispered to Ethan, "Why do people keep calling your dad the Flash Wizard?"
Ethan whispered back, "My dad used to be a Duellist, and Flash Wizard was his moniker. I suppose he was pretty good."
Although the two had been whispering silently to each other, Henry looked over his shoulder and said, "Just pretty good?"
Ethan rolled his eyes at his father and added, "Fine, he might have won the world championship at some point... once or twice. But if you ask me, all that got him was an oversized ego."
Henry merely smirked arrogantly and said, "You don't get to say anything about it until you've earned it yourself."
Ethan clicked his tongue and said, "You make it sound like it's hard. Just wait for me to figure out Apparition, and you will be no match for me."
This time, it was Helene who looked back. She shared a look with Henry before saying, "Now that's something I'd like to see."
Ethan felt like there was something he wasn't getting.
As for Tracey, her eyes were rapidly going back and forth between Ethan and his parents, inwardly marvelling at the family. Ethan's magical talent, which had always felt a little absurd to her, started making sense now. It wasn't just his grandfather; it was the whole family that were monsters.
It did not take long for the group to reach the last room down the temple, which people had believed to be the end of the temple for so many years. They had walked for some time now, so they had to be quite deep.
Unsurprisingly, they did not trigger any curses on the way, much to Tracey's relief. Although Merula Snyde had warned them of potential curses, in reality, the odds of there still being a curse left after hundreds of years of Curse Breakers coming up and down were low.
Of course, as long as it is not zero, caution ought to be exercised.
The last room was quite narrow, and its walls were covered with pictures and writings that seemed to describe Ramesses II's and Nefertari's lives. Unlike most of the hieroglyphs on the walls on the way there, these were not magical.
That was the thing about runes—if they weren't written down with magic, then they would just be letters. Imbuing runes with magic could be done in multiple ways, as pretty much every culture has had a different way of doing so over the years.
The most widespread technique nowadays was simply to write down the runes with magical ink, but that was limiting because it could only work on some surfaces, and the runes would be fragile.
Ethan noticed that the room was surprisingly empty, except for the large sarcophagus in the middle of the room.
Its top was rectangular, and in its centre was the depiction of a man. Unlike the muggle sarcophagus, it wasn't an abstract representation but instead a photorealistic representation of a man. He had somewhat regal hair, with his thin, high eyebrows and beady black eyes, yet at the same time, the long mane of hair behind him made him look a little feral, along with his bestial grin.
If one thing was sure, however, it was that he looked charismatic. Although Ethan had a different vision of what a pharaoh would look like.
Surrounding the man were beautiful engravings, and the sarcophagus was made of solid gold. It was also the only object in the room that was magical, from what Ethan could feel.
Meanwhile, Helene was already busy closely inspecting the room as she asked Snyde, "How did you come to know there was a deeper layer to the temple?"
"We long suspected there was more to this temple thanks to multiple written sources, but Curse Breakers and other kinds of experts were never able to find it."
Still focused on the sarcophagus, Ethan asked her, "How come it is still here? It wasn't pillaged by anyone?"
Snyde sneered, "I'm sure some tried. This room used to be filled with treasures, which have been stolen over the years. But this sarcophagus is enchanted and nearly impossible to steal. And if one were to try to forcefully take it, which would be very hard, the odds would be that either the sarcophagus or the person would be destroyed."
Ethan nodded and said, "Since there is a deeper layer, I assume Ramesses' body isn't really in there, is it?"
"It would be strange if it was, considering this isn't his sarcophagus."
"Really? Whose is it, then? What is it doing in Ramesses' temple?"
Snyde looked down at the golden sarcophagus and replied, "This belongs to Ramesses' firstborn son with Queen Nefertari, Amun-her-khepeshef, the Great Sorrow. He was a great prince of the New Kingdom."
Tracey looked surprised as she asked, "Why would he be called the Great Sorrow?"
"Have you heard of the tale of 'The Destined Prince'?"
Ethan tilted his head at the question, unfamiliar with it. His parents had never really told him many fairy tales.
Tracey, however, perked up at the mention of the tale as she recited, "I have! There once was a prince born into the mightiest of kingdoms. When he was born, a falcon came down from the sky and offered him the love of all that lives. A lion walked into the palace and gave him fire. A crocodile emerged from the river and gifted him with control over his crops. The prince grew to be loved by all; however, one day, his father, the king, stole from a snake, and in retaliation, the snake killed the prince. Do you mean to say the tale is about this Amun- something?"
Snyde nodded. "The Destined Prince is Amun-her-khepeshef. He was said to be loved by all, and he was the most talented in the realm. He had inherited the talent of both his parents, both magical and muggle talents, and he truly was a phenomenal wizard. He unfortunately died an untimely death."
She placed her hand on the sarcophagus, adding, "Ramesses' had more than a hundred children, yet Amun-her-khepeshef was the only one who got to be buried alongside him and his wife. Well, we assume those two are in the temple, deeper in since their corpses were never found. This was another reason many believed there was more to this temple than what had been found since no one ever found their graves."
"What happened to this Amun? He didn't just get bitten by a snake, did he?" Tracey asked.
Merula Snyde shook her head, answering, "There are two main interpretations of history. What historians are sure of is that at some point during his reign, Ramesses II either found, created, or stole, the three of which could be synonymous at the time, an artefact of immense power. Where historians diverge is what happened with it. It was either an artefact of such great power that Ramesses failed to control it and accidentally killed his son. That, or he sacrificed his son to create it or gain control over it. In any case, his death was said to have caused great sorrow to both his parents and the kingdom, hence his nickname the Great Sorrow."
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