The tug of the Portkey felt like an invisible hook jerking him sharply backward by the navel.
His vision twisted into a brightly colored rag, then unfurled in an instant.
A wave of dry heat hit him in the face, mingled with the smell of spices and dust, completely sweeping away the chill scent of stone monuments from the Italian valley.
Douglas stood on solid ground, with a brass plate engraved with a scarab giving off its last traces of warmth beneath his feet.
He was in a spacious living room.
Heavy, dark red curtains shut out the glaring sunlight outside, leaving only a golden slit down the middle that cut through the indoor gloom like a blade.
An old-fashioned ceiling fan turned tirelessly overhead, producing a monotonous, hypnotic hum as it stirred the stagnant air.
This was his home in Egypt.
Douglas looked around, his gaze passing over several walnut wood frames hanging on the wall.
The most prominent held a photograph of him and Bill standing before the Pyramids of Giza.
In the photograph, Bill's long, fiery red hair flew in the hot desert wind. He grinned brilliantly, one arm wrapped firmly around Douglas's shoulders, as though he could hardly wait to show his friend off to the whole world.
Douglas, meanwhile, wore a pair of Muggle sunglasses, a faint smile on his lips, looking even more steady and composed than the pyramids behind him.
Beside it was a photograph of him, Bill, and Charlie in front of Hogwarts Castle on the eve of graduation.
The three boys stood shoulder to shoulder, with soaring towers and the clear waters of the Black Lake behind them.
They all still bore traces of youthful awkwardness in the photograph. Charlie's face was full of anticipation for the future, Bill was already