On March 15, 44 BC, Caesar, who held sole command over Rome's military and political power, was surrounded by a group of people as he entered the Senate of the Directory.
These nobles, dressed in ancient Roman robes and famed for their eloquence, drew daggers from their voluminous garments.
They looked uncertainly at those around them, trying to determine whether the others intended to plunge their daggers into Caesar's body or into a fellow conspirator's, then claim credit for protecting him and earn greater rewards from the future emperor.
After plotting for so long, even the final step of carrying it out could fail because of some small unexpected change.
Until one man stabbed first from behind Caesar. Whether from a lack of skill in killing or from cowardice, he aimed for Caesar's shoulder. Once blood was drawn, the other conspirators closed in as well. Sixty men delivered thirty-three stabs, and at least nearly half of them never struck directly.
They had not acted themselves, yet they were still conspirators, and Caesar's loyal followers later took revenge on them all the same.
The dagger Severus had obtained, Kamose I's dagger, had been removed from a pharaoh's mummy and presented to Napoleon III, Napoleon's nephew.
He had used this dagger to destroy something similar to a Horcrux. If the Sword of Gryffindor could destroy the soul fragments within Voldemort's Horcruxes, then the dagger in Severus's hand could likewise be used to destroy Napoleon Bonaparte's soul.
Napoleon had fought brilliantly in the Battle of the Pyramids. The Mamluk cavalry crashed against his infantry squares like waves, charge after charge, yet these riders who had once defeated the Mongols still lost to the French. Not only had the French won with fewer men against more, their casualties were far lower than the Mamluks'.