Harriet Potter in: The Mummy

Chapter 2

It was several years later, and we had settled in nicely. We found out it was in the 1920s and made sure to dress accordingly. We got a nice little property on the outskirts of town, warded it to the nines so no one could enter, and learned Ancient Egyptian. I found a spell in the Black Library that helped us out, and we were both fluent in many languages now, including, English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Ancient Egyptian, Latin (which was very handy for creating new spells), Hindi, Russian, German, and Japanese. It was a lot of information, and we could only do the spell once a day otherwise we would overload our brains, but damn was it useful.

We went to the Cairo Museum of Antiquities many times, and have established ourselves as important patrons, donating quite a bit of money to the museum. I did not know why, but Luna insisted. This is also where we met the Librarian, Evelyn Carnahan, and her brother Jonathan. Luna and Eve got on like peas and carrots, while I watched on in fascination as another person treated Luna like a normal person.

It was during one of our normal bouts to the Library that we heard a big commotion. We rushed in there and saw that all the bookcases had been toppled over and the books were everywhere.

Eve, looking completely despondent, stood there in the middle and whispered, "Oops."

Before we could say anything, the Curator came in and let out a gasp, "Look at this! Sons of the Messiah! Give me frogs, flies, locusts, anything but this! Compared to you, the other plagues were a joy!"

Eve looks so guilty and says, "I'm sorry, it was an accident."

The Curator looks murderous and says with venom, "When Ramesses destroyed Syria, it was an accident. You are a catastrophe! Why do I put up with you?"

Eve looks upset and says, "You... you put up with me, because I can read and write ancient Egyptian, decipher hieroglyphs and hieratic, and I'm... well I'm the only person within a thousand miles who knows how to properly code and catalogue this library."

The Curator sighs and says, "Who needs smart women? I put up with you because your mother and father were our finest patrons, Allah rest their souls. Now straighten up this mess!"

Luna immediately goes to comfort Eve and I stop the Curator and said, "That was uncalled for."

He looks at me and says, "I cannot keep helping her. If she messes up one more time, I am going to have to let her go."

I sighed and said, "You know she's smart. You know she could help in research. Why not give her a chance?"

He shook his head and said, "It is not up to me, I'm afraid. The board does not want a woman, no matter how smart she is. It also does not help that she us unmarried." I wrinkled my nose in disgust and he chuckles, "I agree with you Miss Potter, but that is unfortunately the way things work."

I nodded my head and said, "Well. At least you try." He just gave me a small smile and headed back to his office. I went over to the two and said, "Eve, what happened?"

She looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "Well... like I was telling Luna, I was cataloging, and I saw a book that belonged on another self. I was already on the ladder and I thought I could reach it behind me...And well. I ended up stuck on the ladder, without support, in between the shelves. I then fell and... this happened."

I tried not to laugh, I really did, but a snort went through anyway. Eve looked at me and anger and I smiled and said, "Oh Eve. Only you." I then hugged her and said, "Don't worry. We'll help you clean this up."

She sighed and said, "Okay."

Just as we were about to start, we heard a loud noise coming from another room. We all stopped, and when we heard it again, Eve went towards it yelling, "Hello?"

We went through the doors and heard some more shuffling, then nothing again. Eve, brave Eve then says, "Abdul? Mohammed?" When no one answered, she let out a whimpered, "Bob?"

We all walk around and find an open sarcophagus. I stepped closer and whispered, "Careful Eve."

She nodded, and when she went to look inside, the mummy popped out with a scream. We all screamed, and then we heard Jonathan laughing.

Eve looks about ready to murder him and yells, "You...! YOU...!"

Jonathan, still laughing in the sarcophagus, finishes, "Drunkard? Fool? Rat-bastard? Please call me something original."

I chimed in with, "Arsehole?"

Jonathan looks offended and says, "Hey!"

I just snickered and Eve says, "Have you no respect for the dead?"

Jonathan shrugs and says, "Right now, I only wish to join them." He then grins drunkenly and we all sigh.

Eve pinches her nose and says, "Well I wish you'd do it sooner rather than later, before you ruin my career the way you've ruined yours."

Jonathan then huffs and says, "My dear, sweet, baby sister," he then stumbles out of the sarcophagus, "I'll have you know, that at this moment my career is on a high note."

I snorted and whispered to Luna, "Yeah right."

Evelyn scoffs and says, "High note? Ha! For five years you've been scrounging around Egypt, and what have you to show for it? Nothing."

Jonathan then gasps like he remembers something and pats around his pockets. He then holds up a trinket and says, "Oh yes I do! I have something right here!"

Evelyn narrows her eyes and says, "Oh no, not another worthless trinkets, Jonathan. If I bring one more piece of junk to the Curator to try and sell for you..." Jonathan holds it in front of her face, and suddenly Eve looks interested. She takes it in gentle hands and says, "Where did you get this?"

Jonathan tries to look nonchalant, "On a dig, down in Thebes."

I could tell that he was lying, but Eve just kept looking at the box and mumbled to herself.

Jonathan looks pleadingly at Eve and says, "My whole life I've never found anything, Evy. Tell me I've found something."

Evelyn the opens the trinket and pulls out a piece of papyrus and says, "Jonathan?"

Jonathan looks at her eagerly and says, "Yes?"

Eve smiles wide and says, "I think you've found something."