Will had no objection to Dumbledore's plan. He couldn't wait to get the thing off his arm; the mark made him deeply uncomfortable.
Still, the books on Ritual Studies Nefertari had given him were useful. Nefertari had put that huge bundle of materials in his Book Trunk. For someone who had become an embodiment of Magic, such a small task was nothing.
The only problem was that Will needed to learn Ancient Egyptian before he could understand the books, and his biggest problem right now was that he had no time.
So Will resolved to repay the man who had taught him so much about Ritual Studies. His Ritual Studies skill had already reached LV2 (197/200), and it would soon rise another level.
Nefertari had asked Will to recreate a Ritual, barely explaining its principles, yet its difficulty alone had earned Will nearly two hundred experience points.
Will was determined to spare him the ordeal of setting up the Ritual again every century.
Tonight was when the students returned to school.
The moment Sylvia arrived, she pulled Will aside and peppered him with questions, fussing over his health. In that short time, she even earned him another two points of Charisma Experience.
Sylvia had come back with Hermione.
"Will!" Sylvia caught his arm and looked him up and down, as though making sure he was in one piece.
"Merlin! You're finally back! Grandfather said you'd gone missing in Egypt, and my father said there might be an international dispute, so information was tightly restricted... I only learned a few days ago that you'd been kidnapped. How are you?"
"I'm fine, Sylvia." Will softened his voice, trying to reassure her. "Just a little weak. I need some rest. See? I'm all right."
"How is that all right?" Sylvia pointed to