Will said no more. After all, the brand was still on his arm, and no one had detected it. The Egyptian Wizards' Council had capable Curse-Breakers, but they had noticed nothing of Ramesses II's methods.
The matter was quickly settled: it was a kidnapping.
On the surface, it was a kidnapping targeting a magical prodigy. In truth, such things had been common in the Wizarding World since ancient times. They had only begun to seem unusual as the modern Wizarding World grew more orderly and regulated.
The Egyptian Wizards' Council offered Will compensation, hoping he would accept it.
Will gladly did. He made an "outrageous demand" for a large number of books, including works on Ritual Studies and material on Uagadou's Animagus practices. The Egyptian Wizards' Council readily agreed. He had not asked for any of their core secrets, after all.
Will spent several days in a hospital bed. Quite a few people visited, most of them Wizards from the Egyptian Wizards' Council whom he did not know. Aisha felt guilty; she thought this had happened because she had introduced Will to Khafre.
Bill also visited once and brought him a letter from George and Fred.
In a private hospital room.
"Gulp, gulp..."
Will downed a large bottle of potion and grimaced. It tasted awful. Still, Snape had brewed it himself, so its quality was guaranteed.
Will stuck out his tongue. "Couldn't this taste a little better?"
Snape raised his eyes. "Why change the taste of a potion? This way, the person drinking it knows it's medicine. In fact, I deliberately made it taste worse."
At Will's look, the corner of Snape's mouth twitched. "So that certain liars' tongues receive the punishment they deserve."
He gave Will a sidelong glance. "I seem to recall someone claiming in his first