Chapter 11: A Dark Path Revealed.
***********************Alexandria, Egypt***************************
0815 Hrs local time
August 5, 2012
Muggle history for the most part, recorded the destruction of the Great Library at Alexandria as a result of Caesar's battle at Alexandria in 48 BC, or at the hands of various invaders over the next few hundred years. In most ways the Muggles were correct about the first assumption, with the exception that the library had never been burned. That fateful night in 48 BC, seeing the flames racing from the harbor towards the collection of ancient tomes and texts, a group of Egyptian wizards had hurriedly used a series of hastily rigged transportation spells, the ancient forerunners of the modern portkey spell to transport the contents of the library into a series of caves just outside of the city itself.
Unfortunately the five wizards and one witch that had accomplished this great feat died a week later at the hands of the invading Roman army, caught in a battle between Caesar and Pompey's forces. The relocated library had been lost for almost two thousand years, until while on a mission for the American government to obtain an extremely powerful artifact; Dr. Henry Jones had found a clue that would eventually lead him to the relocated library twenty years later.
The noted archeologist, sporadically spent time here over the next several decades. Usually in periods between having to reestablish new muggle identities as his long life, while not as long as Dumbledore's, couldn't be explained by muggles. He was technically overseeing a project to catalog the library, and after all of the texts relating to wizarding directly were secreted, was planning on revealing its existence to the world as a whole.
Hermione appeared silently in the entrance to the caves holding the contents of the Library. She smiled absently as she looked out at the stacks and stacks of scrolls. There were books as well, while the Muggle world may not have started producing books until sometime in the sixth century AD and mass producing them starting in 1450, wizards had been conjuring them into existence hundreds of years before that. Still the practice wasn't common and wizards had mostly written on scrolls and tablets, just like their muggle neighbors until after Gutenberg invented his printing press.
She waved at several of the graduate students from Stonehenge University working in the front area. One of them, a tall, thin woman with strawberry blond hair and a slight sunburn, who was using her wand to blow dust from the tomes as Hermione came in, pointed to the back with her free hand, "Dr. Jones is in the back cavern Hermione."
Hermione nodded and started towards the back cavern of the series of caves. She was well known here, she had actually come here on vacation at least once, dragging along Harry, and giving Ron fodder to tease Harry with about being whipped enough to follow his wife to a "giant bloody library out in the middle of the desert for Merlin's sake." He had shut up as Luna had clonked him on the back of the head.
Hermione laughed to herself at the memory as she finally reached the furthest back cave. The cave was actually closed in by a door, and on discovery the door had resisted opening for years, until three years ago, Albus Dumbledore, Bill Weasley, who after Voldemort's defeat had returned to his prized job as a curse breaker, and Dr. Jones had spent a month cracking the various wards and defenses of this room. Culminating in a simple, anti-climatic Alohomora to open the door. After they entered it, they had been shocked to silence as the room was filled with texts, including several that had not been published until well after the chamber was sealed. It appeared that whatever spell the movers had used had continued to collect information. In fact, as if to prove her point, as she entered the room, a brand new text appeared with a soft pop.
