The twinkling of musical beads returned Rowan to the present as she listens to the words of Professor Salah. "There was much drought, famine, war, and plague during that era. It is written that Apep was a priest to a powerful Spirit known to muggle and wizardkind alike by the name of Anubis. With so much death and chaos roaming through the lands of Egypt, none noticed the foul army of the undead that began to stealthily conqueror the land village by the village until at long last word reached the city of Tanis from the mouth of the dying, and sole survivor of one of the countless massacres.
It is widely believed that Apep's terrible army was the first-ever made inferni created from murdered slaves, the exiled, and those sentenced to serve as temple acolytes to the Spirit known as Anubis. The city forces rallied far too late, and the city fell within a single night. It was merely the first of many as countless cities fell one after another before the undead army of Apep. Seeing that Apep was nigh unstoppable, a truce was forged between man and that of wizardkind. The two allies marched side by side and met Apep on the battlefield. It was a most terrible and violent battle with much bloodshed, and more than half of the army being slain. In the end, Apep was finally slain by a powerful wizard by the name of Atum, who was named after the sun spirit, Ra, " Professor Salah paused as she saw the intent gaze of her students who raptly listened to her every word.
"However, both sides were filled with abject fear at the dark arts that Apep had created and forged with terrible bloodshed and horror. Perchance Apep had even found a way around death. Thus, both wizardkind and man agreed to destroy the corpse of Apep, but it was an impossible feat. Apep had ventured into such corrupt, dark paths that even his body was nearly invincible. Still, in the end after much effort, the corpse of Apep was torn into four pieces," Professor Salah paused to ask a question.
"For those studying Arithmancy as well, who can tell the archaic symbolization of the number four?"
Rowan raised her hand, and Professor Salah gestured for Rowan to speak. Lowering her hand, Rowan replies, "The number four has a vast number of meanings, first and foremost the number of fates. And the second is the representation of the Major Arana of the Tarot, the Emperor, who symbolizes the sun, order, and balance. All other meanings will fall under the umbrella of these two meanings."
"Excellent response, Prefect Prince," Professor Salah murmured with a small smile of pleasure. "Ten points to Slytherin!" She said causing Severus to sniff to himself as he had not taken Arithmancy having instead opted for Divination.
"Neither did man nor wizardkind believe it was a coincidence either," Professor Salah continued to explain; "They believed it was a sign from the heavens or rather the Sun Spirit, Ra. Determined to prevent the return of Apep or any other wizard the torn corpse of Apep was entrusted to four valiant and powerful warriors from mankind."
"Each warrior departed on their beasts of burden and left in each of the four cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west to bury the fragment of Apep in distant lands. The warriors and their descendants were to guard for all time Apep's corpse and never permit for the corpse of Apep to be fully reunited," Professor Salah said with a distant gaze, before peering intently at the students sitting before her.
"And as for the Book of the Dead, the book was instead torn into thirty parts to be destroyed or hidden away by the bravest of witches and wizards in distant lands. I believe that a vast majority of the book was destroyed, but a portion was not. For even to this day the dark arts of necromancy have yet to be lost to this day," Professor Salah admitted. "Power is a terrible creature that even twists the best of hearts until they are no longer recognizable. And no witch or wizard is above the temptation of such a promise."
There is a solemn lapse of silence in the classroom once Professor Salah ceased to speak. Seeing the grave expressions of her students, Professor Salah much more lighthearted says, "There is no need to worry yourself, children, as much of the Dark Arts have been lost or destroyed and, in this day, and age very little yet remains in existence. And that which remains in existence is incredibly rare and difficult to come by ordinary means. And I can assure you; that the Ministry of Magic keeps a close eye on those that seek to sell or acquire such items."
Privately Rowan thinks to herself, that is not necessarily true, Borgin and Burke's shop remains yet open, despite the Ministries current intervention in Diagon Alley. Which makes one wonder, why exactly such a notorious shop had remained touched? Surely, there is something more to it, even more conceivably, a preexisting contract between the Ministry of Magic and that of the inheritors of the shop. Though one must wonder which Minister of Magic was so daring as to make such a contract as payment for services rendered, and even more importantly, exactly what was purchased that wagered such an elaborate payment that continued even to the present day?
Rowan is pulled out of her train of thoughts by the musical beads that clink together as Professor Salah moves towards the chalkboard. With a flick of her wand, the chalk begins to move and write ancient hieroglyphics onto the board. "Thankfully with the Book of the Dead mostly lost or destroyed, there are some things that can be learned from the muggle Book of the Dead. Despite the muggle's lack of magic, the muggles unwittingly preserved many ancient spell matrixes' that are still used to this day most commonly in runes and warding. If you would all turn to page one hundred and fourteen in your textbook, we shall begin," Professor Salah instructed as the rustling of pages being turned can be heard as textbook pages are turned.
Once the turning of pages has ceased, Professor Salah faces her class. "There are some aspects of warding that still retain their ancient origins and we continue to practice to this day. In ancient times, it was widely believed that a witch or wizard must belong to one of the four elements, earth, fire, wind, water, and to set a warding the corresponding element is required. But it has since been discovered that it is not the case at all, but rather the runes inscribed into the spell matrix is what defines the ward."
Professor Salah paused as her kohl-lined eyes swept of her students. "Take, for example, a ward or spell matrix set to attack rather than to defend. To create such a ward or spell matrix triggered must be inscribed with volatile runes that generally are related to Fire to function properly, whilst a ward or spell matrix set for protection will often be inscribed with calm runes resembling that of Earth. And regardless of whether the ancient's beliefs were correct or not, they believed true, which allowed them to power their wards and spell matrix's much like our current understanding and perception allows us to do the same in this day and age."
Rowan nods her head in understanding for such as much had been implied in her Ancient Runes class with Professor Babbling. And though they covered a wide variety of Ancient Runes with Professor Babbling, they did not discuss the usage of such runes in warding and spell matrixes. Then again, it was likely due to the fact that many witches and wizards are interested even to this day and age in the topic. And those that were rare or would later do so for a career such as becoming a Curse Breaker for Gringotts and so forth.
In fact, there were not many Spell Matrix or Ward Masters still in existence as purebloods trusted very few to renew or have access to their home wards. Those that were trusted were a select few, and their existence was closely guarded by purebloods alike as if said Master were to fall into the wrong hands, it would spell disaster for those that used the master's services. That and Spell Matrix or Ward Masters were just as wary of purebloods for some families preferred that their secrets permanently remained secrets. And much like the lyric of a certain song goes, "Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead."
However, Rowan could not argue with the logic and coldness of that quote. She was a Slytherin through and through, and it would be a lie for her to say otherwise. Because not everyone receives a good poker hand, but rather a handful of bad cards.