Amir's voice suddenly broke the silence. He pulled out a handful of gems, hesitated for a moment, and then sighed.
Fatima looked down at the glittering stones, straightened her disheveled clothes, and shook her head. "Keep them. I don't need the money."
She wasn't lying—ten golden bracelets still shone on her wrists.
When Amir looked toward Dawn, he too waved him off.
Even if Amenhotep had called them a reward, Dawn didn't want anything taken from a tomb.
But then—
Dawn rubbed his chin, an idea flickering through his mind. Something sly.
Amir, seeing both refuse, grinned widely and swept the jewels back into his pouch. "Well, in that case, I'll just hold onto them myself!"
He left one gem in his hand, turning it in the sunlight.
The dazzling light refracted through it like the depths of an ocean.
Then—suddenly—
Without warning, Amir clutched his chest, screaming in agony as he collapsed, thrashing in the sand!
"Damn it, what now?"
Fatima, still recovering from the emotional rollercoaster, snapped in frustration, while Dawn instinctively stepped back.
But the next instant—
Dawn's eyes narrowed.
He could see natural magic gathering into tendrils—piercing into Amir's body!
The sight was familiar.
He'd seen it before.
The black markings beneath Amir's skin shattered and intertwined with those magical threads—it was a blood curse!
Dawn inhaled sharply, feeling both a sense of dread and grim validation. His earlier experiment—the one that had briefly turned Amir into a Niffler—had been real after all!
Just like the historical case of Seeker Carter, who turned into a donkey from blood-curse contamination, Amir too was succumbing to the same fate.
Dawn found himself thinking of fate, of natural magic, and even of the prophecy of the savior.
While he drifted in thought, Amir's body convulsed violently, his heart pounding, the sand around him swirling.
"Hey! What's happening to you?"
Fatima checked herself first to ensure she wasn't affected, then crouched beside him.
Amir looked up.
"Squeak—squeak!"
He tried to speak, but only strange, high-pitched noises escaped his throat.
Fatima's eyes widened as his skin sprouted coarse black fur, his body shrinking, his mouth and nose elongating, whiskers sprouting from his cheeks.
"A mouse?!"
Her voice trembled in shock. She immediately realized what was happening—the blood curse!
Dawn didn't seem surprised. He continued to observe calmly as the markings across Amir's body pulsed and shifted.
It appeared that the initial outbreak of the curse wasn't too severe. The corrupted natural magic was limited.
Dawn noted that, much like an Animagus, a blood-curse beast retained magic within its body—though unable to cast spells, the power still remained.
As he watched, the natural and internal magics wrestled within Amir's form until, gradually, the balance tipped.
The patterns on his skin glowed faintly. The squealing rat swelled and reshaped—returning to human form.
But the markings still shimmered faintly until, at last, the natural magic dissipated, and they stabilized.
Dawn's eyes gleamed.
Seeing this, a bold idea suddenly took root in his mind.
"It seems the curse is attached to this gemstone. It must have been brought out with us."
Seeing Amir return to human form, Fatima glanced down at the blue gem lying half-buried in the sand and made her judgment.
Amir fell back onto the ground, staring blankly at the sky, utterly defeated.
As a wizard with a decent grasp of theory, he fully understood what had just happened to him—and he knew all too well how terrifying a blood curse could be.
After all, a blood curse could travel through one's lineage, passed down generation after generation.
"Great," Amir muttered bitterly. "Guess I can forget about ever getting married."
He sighed deeply. "Raiding tombs really is a death wish."
Sure, they'd made some money, but he had gained three curses in exchange—one of which would likely end his life.
Pulling himself upright with a miserable expression, Amir suddenly shouted, "I've decided! Whatever time I have left, I'll live it up—wine, women, and luxury!"
"Whatever you like," Fatima said dryly as she brushed sand from her robes.
Then she turned to Dawn. "Kid, would you consider selling me the method you use to locate hidden chambers so quickly?"
"Forget it. You wouldn't understand it even if I tried to teach you."
Dawn withdrew his gaze from Amir.
But as Fatima mentioned it, a thought flashed through his mind.
If another young wizard possessed the same hunger for knowledge before a magical outburst, could they gain a similar ability to his?
Or perhaps… could a magical outburst produce something even stranger?
Dawn had once believed that a magical outburst was simply magic inside the body responding to a wizard's intent.
Now, however, he suspected it might be connected to natural magic itself. The abilities he had gained during his own magical surge were far too extraordinary to be explained otherwise.
But what exactly was the relationship between the two?
Fatima asked him a few more questions, but when she realized the boy wasn't responding, she shrugged.
"Well, since this mission's over, we'll part ways here. I need to find a way to break my curses. If fate allows, we'll meet again!"
As soon as her words fell, she flicked her wrist. With a soft pop, she vanished in a swirl of displaced air.
Amir opened his mouth to say goodbye, but before he could finish a syllable, she was gone. He scratched his head awkwardly.
Dawn glanced at him. "Are you going straight to Britain, or do you plan to sell the gem here first?"
"I'll sell it here," Amir said. "Otherwise, I can't even afford a Portkey to Britain."
"Portkey?"
Why not just take an airplane?
Dawn watched the wizard who had completely dismissed Muggle methods of travel, then extended his hand.
"I know where Gringotts Egypt is. Want me to take you there with Apparition?"
Amir blinked in surprise. "You'd do that?"
"Of course. After all, we've been through life and death together."
Dawn smiled, and in the next moment, the yellow sand blurred around them.
His first time Apparating with another person was a success.
When the surroundings cleared, they were standing amidst Cairo's low, sun-baked buildings.
Gringotts Egypt was protected by anti-Apparition wards, so they had to walk a short distance.
"Once you get your money," Dawn asked, "are you planning to travel abroad?"
"Yeah! I want to visit Hawaii first—heard it's paradise. Then the Alps, Norway, Iceland… there are so many places I want to see!"
As Amir spoke, the gloom from his curse seemed to lift a little.
"You're not going to look for a way to break the curse?" Dawn asked.
"The professors at Wagadu said there's no known cure for a blood curse," Amir said with a bitter laugh. "Trying would just be a waste of time."
He touched his chest, then glanced down at the cursed words glowing faintly around his ankle. "As for the other two curses—well, the end result's the same, isn't it?"
He went silent for a moment, then forced a grin. "Anyway, the blood curse probably won't fully trigger for another ten years. Until then, I'll make sure to enjoy every moment."
As they chatted, Gringotts came into view.
It was as magnificent as ever, though after seeing a Pharaoh's tomb, Dawn found the gold and marble rather cheap-looking.
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