Carrying the copper bell Ragdeff I had given him, Voldemort and Bellatrix followed Ragdeff II through the secret passage straight into the Pyramid of Khufu.
"I can only escort you this far."
Ragdeff II stopped at a three-way junction. "Our family's ancestral rules forbid us from taking another step."
"You've guarded it for generations, yet you're forbidden to enter?" Voldemort asked. "Why?"
"I don't know, sir. But perhaps I'll learn the answer when I become Ragdeff I," Ragdeff II said.
Voldemort nodded and looked toward the passage leading into the pyramid.
"Then we'll part here, Ragdeff II. If I obtain the Veil of Faith, I'll keep my promise."
With that, Voldemort walked into the passage without looking back.
Bellatrix nodded farewell to Ragdeff II, then followed Voldemort.
Ragdeff II watched Voldemort with a complicated expression before retreating into the secret passage they had come through.
"Rumble."
The passage closed, and the three-way junction disappeared.
The stone walls fitted so tightly together that no one could tell a secret passage had ever been there.
By then, Voldemort and Bellatrix had already followed the passage into the Pyramid of Khufu.
Torches lined the walls of the passage, stretching as far as the eye could see.
"Stay alert, but don't act rashly."
Voldemort quietly cautioned Bellatrix as he counted the torches in his mind.
"Yes, Master."
Bellatrix's voice came from behind him, but Voldemort didn't look back.
At the seventh pair of torches, Voldemort stopped and tapped each one with his wand.
"Rumble..."
The sound of machinery shaking echoed through the passage. The floor before them rolled away, revealing a floor of dark basalt.
"Don't rush. Wait a moment."
Voldemort held back Bellatrix as she tried to overtake him and scout ahead. "Do you remember how to deal with the magic of the