Egypt... an ancient civilization and, suddenly, there we were.
After crossing the official transport networks, we finally set foot on a completely different continent. As we stepped outside, the change in climate was an immediate shock: warm, dense, and heavy with sand. Perhaps I was overly sensitive to environmental changes, but it was impossible not to notice the contrast; and this was despite having been in Brazil not too long ago. This was a different kind of heat—dry and suffocating, less humid. Luckily, we were wizards. A couple of Cooling Charms, and the weather would be reduced to a mere inconvenience.
Shortly after leaving the Egyptian Ministry of Magic, the first thing we encountered came not from this ancient land, but from home: Bill and Charlie, who traveled from Romania and was already waiting for us here.
"Mum! Dad!" they shouted, rushing to wrap our parents in a hug before overwhelming the rest of us in a group greeting.
Seeing them again, healthy and strong, filled us with relief. We Weasleys had always been a close family, and reuniting after so long together brought a warmth distinct from that of the desert. We started chatting right then and there, unable to keep anything to ourselves. Letters were useful, yes, but they could never replace direct contact. My brothers greeted Charlie in a chaotic rush; in fact, the twins were already negotiating the possibility of sneaking into some cursed tomb or asking if he had any new scars. Even Xenophilius ended up joining the conversation with his usual theories.
However, we couldn't stay on the public street forever, so we headed toward our lodging. It was the local equivalent of the Leaky Cauldron, though I must admit it was much better preserved. It didn't look like a decrepit pub, but rather an ancient yet respectable structure.
We settled in there, though sorting out the room arrangements quickly turned into a puzzle. The initial plan was the usual one: Mum and Dad in one room; Percy and Charlie in another; one room for the twins; Ron and me in another; and finally, Ginny could share with Luna if they both wanted to, while Xenophilius occupied a single room.
But the girls had other plans. Or rather, they wanted me in their room. They couldn't say it directly, but they were clever—perhaps more so than they should be for their age, maybe due to my influence. Perhaps I had overstimulated them all this time with my blood magic and the supplements I brought back from my adventures. The result of that early stimulation was immediately evident in their resourcefulness.
"But Mum! Fewer rooms mean more money saved!" Ginny pleaded with crushing logic. "I have no problem sleeping with Red. Ron can go with Fred and George... after all, he snores like a troll."
"Hey!" Ron protested, caught between indignation and embarrassment.
"Yeah, don't say that!" Fred cut in, placing a protective hand on Ron's shoulder.
"You can't just throw him away like that," George added, copying his twin's dramatic gesture.
"We don't want him either," Fred finished, breaking the farce with a mocking grin.
"Don't saddle us with the troll snorer," George agreed.
Ron, who for a second thought he had found allies, scowled in anger.
"Sweetheart, money isn't an issue this time. We have enough to pay for all the rooms," Molly said, bending down to fondly pinch Ginny's cheek. Her tone carried a hint of guilt, believing her daughter's persistence was a inherited remnant of our years of financial hardship. Or at least, that was what she assumed.
"Precisely because of that," Ginny insisted, holding out her hands with the expression of a professional negotiator. "If we have money but still save on the rooms, we have extra margin. If I stay in the same room as Red, you could give me what you save to buy souvenirs from the trip."
Molly and Arthur were left speechles. No one expected Ginny to be so... calculating, nor to show such a pragmatic interest in gold. My parents exchanged looks, caught between confusion and amazement, not quite knowing how to react to this sudden greedy streak in their youngest daughter.
Before they could formulate an objection, Xenophilius came to the rescue.
"Doesn't sound like a bad idea to me," the man chimed in with complete composure. Immediately after, he reached into his coin pouch, pulled out a handful of Galleons, and held them out to his daughter. "Use them wisely, Luna. I trust you will manage your budget well."
"Yes, Dad," Luna replied, offering him a radiant smile.
It was pure improvisation, but it looked like a father's masterclass in financial education, paired with total trust.
The Weasley family could only watch the scene play out, backed into a corner by circumstances. With Xenophilius giving his blessing—being the only one who in theory could have raised an objection—my parents had no solid arguments left to refuse. After all, even though we were growing up, Ginny and I were siblings; sleeping in the same quarters raised no suspicions. Nor were they worried about Luna. In my parents' eyes, I was still the responsible, composed, and sensible son; in fact, if anything worried them, it was that the combined energy of the two girls might wear me out when I was meant to be one of the main highlights of this trip.
In the end, the arrangement was accepted. Ginny, Luna, and I would share a room, and my parents handed Ginny half of the saved money. Following Xenophilius's example, they hoped the opportunity would serve to teach her about personal finance. The other half ended up in my brothers' hands for their own room. Although the twins feigned monumental annoyance at having to live with Ron, they secretly gave Ginny an approving nod behind our parents' backs: obtaining extra holiday funds in exchange for enduring their favorite "test subject" for a month was a sweet deal. Even in Ron's eyes—who for a few moments had also looked at me with displeasure for abandoning him—there gleamed a flash of greed; he was already calculating that keeping that gold would make up for it once he got home.
Once inside the room, the girls immediately dropped the calculating attitude toward money and their acted childish excitement. They left the coins on the table without the slightest care, smiling with satisfaction solely at the success of their strategic maneuver. Having learned to rely on me to fulfill any need, they lacked any attachment to money; while not wasteful, they knew they would never lack anything. Furthermore, I had already granted them access to their own [inventories] through an update of the [Guild]. Though tiny in capacity compared to mine, they had enough space for a few personal items. I had also given them small pouches with Undetectable Extension Charms to disguise their use and carry larger or less important items.
The room had three beds. As we organized our sparse luggage, we received constant visitors. Our brothers came by to inspect the setup, comparing it to theirs, while our parents stopped in to make sure everything was in order. Bill also dropped by to say hello; aware of the recent events at the Ministry, he paid far sharper attention to me than our parents did.
As a Curse-Breaker, Bill had much more experience with cursed artifacts; moreover, he didn't look at me with the protective indulgence of the rest of the family. He sensed inconsistencies in my story—a matter he would likely address with my parents later on. However, he showed no wariness or suspicion, only genuine brotherly concern. He talked with the girls and me, and even suggested going out alone later for a chat. I accepted the invitation for a talk between brothers, though I doubted I'd have the time: the two girls beside me were demanding my absolute attention like two Gremlins eager for affection. It was telling to see Bill sigh as he noticed how Ginny, despite not having seen him in years, prioritized being with me, whom she had by her side all the time. What he didn't know was how hard she had fought to secure that time alone and how she wouldn't let anyone take it away.
Once alone again, the girls suggested pushing the mattresses together to improvise a triple bed—an idea I dismissed as inappropriate, especially given the awkwardness of explaining it whenever someone walked into the room, which, as we had seen, happened quite frequently. As we unpacked, they chatted enthusiastically about the itinerary, what to visit, what to eat, what to do... Despite being in unfamiliar territory, they showed no fear whatsoever; they knew that even if we got lost, I would be there. Perhaps getting lost was actually quite an appealing goal for them.
Shortly after, my mother reappeared to guide us outside. The journey through Egypt would begin with Bill acting as our local guide, taking advantage of the day off he had taken to show us the magical world of Cairo and share details about his work and life here. He had already lived here long enough to be a good guide... at least in this part of the country.
The first step required a change of clothes. British robes stood out quite a bit, and although thermal enchantments mitigated the heat, local lightweight clothing offered far greater comfort. Thanks to the generous prize money, my father raised no objections to funding the necessary purchases for the trip, so we would all get a new set of clothes.
We set off toward the shopping area of the Egyptian magical world.
"Red? Are you alright?" Luna asked at my side.
I was flanked by both of them. The girls had noticed I had lagged behind for a moment, taking in the surroundings in a very different way from them—without that typical tourist innocence.
"Yeah, I was just thinking it really is for the best if we change..." I answered honestly. Although I had already sent clones around the world, this time felt different, being a genuine leisure trip.
"Why?" Ginny asked, looking down at her clothes, not understanding why she suddenly seemed so uncomfortable after leaving the hotel.
"I don't know... colonizer's guilt?" I joked with a lopsided smile. "Let's just say Great Britain and Egypt don't exactly have the cleanest history... and, technically, we're the bad guys in this movie. I don't want to be mistaken for that kind of compatriot."
Honestly, that was the exact feeling. Although I wasn't British in my past life, I remembered very well the general consensus regarding Great Britain's foreign interventions... and now, by a twist of fate, I was part of that very same culture. In truth, I didn't feel the slightest bit of historical guilt; I just found a certain ironic humor in the situation, but I preferred changing my clothes out of pure aesthetic caution. I was a villain, yes, but I preferred to be recognized for my own misdeeds, not for the sins of unrelated ancestors.
The girls looked at me in complete confusion, but luckily, Bill showed up at that moment. He nodded at my words and began explaining to the little ones the complex historical relations between the muggle worlds of both nations. Although the dynamics between the magical and non-magical worlds differed from their muggle counterparts, the repercussions still trickled over from one side to the other.
My parents listened to the explanation as well, nodding with a trace of sympathy once they understood the context. However, much like Bill, they were caught off guard by how easily I handled that information.
For a moment, I saw concern and sorrow cross their faces. I had always been a different kind of boy, but that made them question when on earth I had learned such things, why I had done so... and how many other secrets I was keeping. Perhaps, they wondered sadly, it was precisely that mutual ignorance that had ultimately led to the dark events at the Ministry.