"Excellent idea," the Professor entered the conversation. "Why don't you let me show the Doctor to the Zeppelin and then Henchgirl and I can set her up with a laboratory."
"Ok," Harry blinked in surprise. "I didn't think that you were going to . . . if it's not too much trouble."
"No trouble at all," the Professor smiled. "Come with me Doctor."
"Alright," the woman nodded. "Though I'm surprised that you're accepting me like this."
"Just touch this Zippo," the Professor held out the small object. "And I'll activate the portkey."
"Portkey?" The woman touched the Zippo, "I thought you said Zeppelin?"
"Port me up," the two felt an odd pulling sensation in the crowns of their heads. "I did."
"What is this place?"
"Come with me," the Professor ignored her question. "Do you have any magical items with you?"
"A few," the Doctor nodded. "Why?"
"Put them in this box along with your wand," the Professor gestured towards a small box. "We need to make sure that they don't interfere with the charm matrix and crash the Zeppelin and kill us all."
"Kill us all?" The Doctor quickly tossed her wand and a pair of rings into the box.
"Hmmm," the Professor looked down at his Hex-Quarter. "You missed something."
"Oh," the woman nodded as she tossed in her earrings. "I almost forgot."
"Quite alright," the Professor closed the box. "Come with me."
"Where are we going?"
"I'm going to introduce you to my henchgirl, Henchgirl." The Professor replied with a grin.
"Henchgirl?" The Doctor had a strange look on her face.
"Yes?" Henchgirl stuck her head out into the hall.
"This is the Doctor," the Professor smiled. "She's going to study Mr. Black's blood."
"Why?" Henchgirl's nose wrinkled.
"It's poisonous," the Professor shrugged. "It also contains werewolf saliva and vampire blood."
"That is strange," Henchgirl nodded. "Do you think he'd give me a sample?"
"I'm sure he would," the Professor nodded.
"I'll get the contracts," Henchgirl disappeared back into her room.
"Contracts?" The Doctor looked down at the Professor with a confused expression.
"Yes," the Professor nodded. "In effect they state that you are being hired to work as a researcher and that any discoveries belong to the company, and will be used to buy you shares in the company."
"Profits?" The Doctor smiled.
"You get a large share of any profits from anything you discover," the Professor nodded. "Along with a share of every other discovery, it also states that you will never betray or reveal the identity or secrets of Mr. Black or any of the other employees."
"Identity?" The Doctor asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Your real name is not the Doctor, mine is not the Professor, Henchgirl's is not Henchgirl, and I'm told that Mr. Black has a very embarrassing first name." The Professor smiled, "we all have our secrets."
"And you want to protect them," the Doctor nodded. "That sounds reasonable . . . to be honest, I'd be worried if you didn't have something like this."
"The Professor and I have both signed something similar," Henchgirl offered as she handed over the contract. "The only one that hasn't is Mr. Black."
"Why not," the Doctor asked as she scanned the contract.
"Two reasons," the Professor replied. "One is because he has more secrets, and if you look you'll see a clause about that."
"The other?"
"He's the boss," Henchgirl shrugged. "And while he may have a very relaxed way of running things, he's still the boss. Without his help, none of us would have anything to research."
"That sounds reasonable," the Doctor nodded as she signed the contract. "What now?"
"Now I fold it up and put it into the secure document storage," Henchgirl replied.
"And the two of us get your wand and items," the Professor smiled. "You won't have to relinquish them again."
"There wasn't any danger, was there?" The Doctor began to laugh, "you just wanted to disarm me."
"Mr. Black may be able to kill several groups of hostile wizards before lunch without anyone's aid," the Professor shrugged. "But Henchgirl and I need all the help we can get."
"I think I'm gonna like you two," the Doctor shook her head. "I didn't even think about it until I realized that the two of you had me boxed in."
"We wouldn't have forced you to sign it," the Professor gave a weak smile. "But we had to be sure that you weren't one of Mr. Black's enemies."
"I told you that I understood," the Doctor smiled. "Like I said, I would have been worried if you hadn't done something. Growing up with my family . . . let's just say that they aren't the most easy people to get along with. Left with the idea to be careful of people's motives, accepting me with open arms would have just made me paranoid."
"I'm sorry," the Professor opened the box and handed it over to the Doctor. "What would you require for a good medical research laboratory?"
"Oh lots of things," the Doctor began reviewing her mental list. "The first thing I'd like is a good microscope."
"You wouldn't happen to know how to build one would you?"
IIIIIIIIII
"We've located Mr. Black master," Wormtail simpered.
"Where is he?"
"He's been spotted in Egypt master," Wormtail cowered.
"Take a team and destroy him," Voldemort commanded.
"Yes master," Wormtail cringed. "May I have permission to ask our allies for help?"
"You may," the Dark Lord nodded. "It's time they started earning their keep."
"Thank you master," Wormtail kissed the hem of the Dark Lord's robe. "Thank you."
"You're welcome Wormtail," the Dark Lord smiled. "CRUCIO."
IIIIIIIIII
"Excuse me," a man wearing a pith helmet spoke to get Harry's attention. "But you wouldn't happen to be Mr. Black would you?"
"I am," Harry nodded. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm Director Asim," the man held out his hand. "I work for the antiquities division."
"Mr. Black," Harry took the man's hand. "Nice to meet you."
"We were hoping that you could help us with something," the Director smiled.
"What do you need?"
"We're having trouble locating a tomb," the Director pulled out a file. "Our research shows that it has to be in this area, but we've been unable to locate it."
"I'm still not sure how I can help you," Harry frowned. "I don't have any idea how to find what you're looking for."
"Well," the Director gave a weak smile. "We were hoping that you could use your knowledge of wards to find it, I'm told that you are quite adept at using Mage Sight?"
"Oh," Harry nodded. "That I can do, I'd be happy to help."
"Excellent," the man nodded. "Now all we have to do is work out the contract."
"What contract?"
"Well," the man paused. "The standard contract that we use with Gringotts states that you get a third of the treasure and a third of the magical knowledge."
"Really?" Harry had heard his uncle talk about negotiations enough to know that you never took the first offer. "How interesting."
"But I see no need to use that contract with you," the man sagged. "How about equal shares?"
"How about I get any magical knowledge discovered," Harry suggested. "And access to any magical knowledge that you've previously discovered?"
"I'll have to talk it over with my superiors," the man stalled. "Would you be willing to share any knowledge you discovered?"
"Anything that wasn't too dangerous to be known," Harry agreed. "No offense, but I've had bad luck with government officials."
"I'll be back with an answer soon," the Director promised.
"Ok," Harry nodded, a bit surprised that things had gone so easily. "Take your time, I'll be here for another day or two before moving on."
Harry spent another hour reading through his stack of books before the Professor returned.
"Henchgirl and I spend a bit of time setting up the Doctor's laboratory," the Professor explained. "You won't believe the kinds of instruments that she had us create, those muggles are quite clever aren't they?"
"When you don't have magic you do other things," Harry nodded.
"Did anything happen while I was gone?" The Professor reached for another book.
"Some guy from the government came to ask me to look for some tomb," Harry replied. "Then we negotiated for a little while . . . you know how it is."
"No I don't," the Professor put down his book and picked up another. "I never learned to negotiate."
"Oh," Harry nodded. "Well, he offered me a price that was way too low and I countered with a price that was way too high, then he left so that he could pretend to talk to his superiors."
"Is that how it works?" The Professor was impressed, "I never realized."
"I'm fairly sure that's the way it works," Harry shrugged. "I've never had to do much negotiating in the past."
"Well . . . I'm sure everything will work out in the end," the Professor nodded. "Henchgirl and I wanted to visit the pyramids tomorrow, would you like to come with us?"
"Sure," Harry nodded. "Sounds like fun."
IIIIIIIIII
"I have met with Mr. Black," Asim looked around the room at his superiors.
"What did he say?" One of the fatter men wiped his brow.
"He told me that his price is half the treasure, all the magical knowledge, all the magical items, and access to all of our magical knowledge." Asim replied, "he added that he would be willing to share any magical knowledge with us after checking to ensure that it's not too dangerous."
"He can't be serious," the fat man's eyes shot open. "The goblins only demand a third."
"The goblins cant find this tomb," one of the others gently reminded. "And according to rumor, Mr. Black may have been around when it was found."
"Still," the fat man protested. "All the magic, he thinks he can screen through it and give us the few spells that he deems safe enough?"
"My guess would be that he knows something about the contents of the tomb," the other man replied. "Reports say that it is the resting place for a very powerful court wizard . . . who knows what kind of dangers it might contain."
"Half is better than nothing," Asim spoke up. "Some knowledge is better than none at all, Mr. Black has a history of generosity. He's done more to help the European governments in the last few weeks than anyone in the past five centuries."
"Do it," the fat man nodded. "Tell him that we agree to his terms . . . for any site that he discovers."
"I will sir," Director Asim nodded. "Does anyone else have anything they'd like to add?"
"Ask him if he'd be willing to help with the bandits in the desert," the Director of Magical Law Enforcement spoke up. "Better yet, warn him of the bandits in the desert and let him do the rest. I'm told he likes to pretend to have no idea what's going on around him, it's only polite to play along."
"I will," Asim nodded. "I have no doubt that I will be coming before you tomorrow to inform you of a magnificent treasure, good evening gentlemen."
IIIIIIIIII
The Professor woke early the next morning and promptly went back to sleep, four hours later he got up again and walked to the bridge.
"We're here," Henchgirl greeted him cheerfully. "And now that you're awake, you can watch the zeppelin while we go to the pyramids."
"NO," the Professor disagreed. "I command you to watch the zeppelin."
"OK," Henchgirl nodded cheerfully. "Thanks, I thought you'd want to stay up here after . . . you know, but if you don't."
"How dare you try to deceive me," the Professor wasn't a morning person. "I command you to go down to the pyramids."
"If that's what you want," Henchgirl managed to successfully hide her grin until she got to the Port – Trans chamber. "Sucker."
"Where's the Professor?" Harry looked around, "isn't he coming down with us?"
"He decided that I'd go down first," Henchgirl answered smugly. "And one of us will relieve him later."
"Ok," Harry nodded. "Is the Doctor coming?"
"She's already down," Henchgirl replied. "She said she wanted to pick up a few things for her lab."
"Ok," Harry shrugged. "Let's go."
"Yay," Henchgirl ran over to the pad and the two friends ported down to see the great pyramids.
"Are you and the Professor interested in the way the pyramids were built?" Harry stared up at the great pyramid with wide eyes.
"To some extent," Henchgirl nodded. "It's interesting to see the way things were done in the past."
"That it is," Harry shook his head. "Shall we go in?"
"Ok," Henchgirl nodded. "Let's go."
The two friends entered the pyramid and gazed in wonder at the wonder of the king's chamber and the great gallery.
Moving on to the queen's chamber, the two friends discovered that they were not alone in the pyramid.
"Hello," Henchgirl smiled at the odd looking man. "How are you?"
"And why are you wearing a disguise field?" Harry added, fingering his wand.
"I'm fine, thank you." The odd man smiled at Henchgirl, "because I'm a goblin."
"Oh," Harry relaxed. "Sorry for being so abrupt, but I have quite a large number of people trying to kill me and I'm afraid that I get paranoid sometimes."
"Quite alright," the goblin nodded. "Are you just here to visit?"
"I am," Harry nodded. "Henchgirl's here to get an idea of how the place was built."
"Really?" The goblin perked up, "you wouldn't happen to be the Henchgirl? The one who travels around with the Professor and Mr. Black would you?"
"Yup," Henchgirl nodded. "And this is my friend, Mr. Black."
"Nice to meet you," Harry nodded.
"I'd like to get your opinion on something if I may," the goblin handed Henchgirl a parchment covered in notations. "It looks as if they may be a dead space behind this wall but I haven't found a way to prove it, or any entrance."
"I see what you mean," Henchgirl looked over the notations. "Maybe if we . . ."
"Mr. Black," Director Asim rushed into the chamber. "I'm so glad that I was able to find you."
"Hello Director Asim," Harry nodded. "How are you today?"
"I'm doing well," Asim smiled. "And I have some wonderful news."
"What's that?" Harry smiled.
"The government has agreed to your demands," the Director replied quickly. "All the magical items and knowledge, and half the treasure of any find you make."
"What about access to what you already have?"
"Copies are being made as we speak," the Director smiled. "And will be delivered after you find the tomb."
"Great," Harry nodded.
"Mr. Black," Henchgirl looked up from the parchment. "Would you mind using your mage sight?"
"Sure," Harry glanced around the room and focused on one spot. "I wonder what would happen if I . . ."
One of the walls seemed to shimmer before revealing a new entrance. After stepping through, the group looked around in wonder.
"You found it," the Goblin shouted in glee. "How remarkable."
"What is it?" Asim couldn't believe his eyes.
"Looks like a repository of basic spells," Harry glanced at the label on one of the jars. "And maybe a few potions that we can decode."
"You can read the labels?" Asim stared at the strange man in shock.
"Hmm," Harry looked up. "I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention, one of the workers wrote something on the wall and I was just reading that."
"What does it say?" Asim couldn't believe what was happening.
"It's rather dirty," Harry blushed. "I'd rather not say."
"Should I record this as a joint find for Mr. Black and Gringotts bank?" Asim glanced at the goblin and Harry.
"No," the Goblin shook his head. "I don't work for Gringotts anymore, I retired."
"You still deserve some of it," Harry protested. "We wouldn't have found anything without your help."
"You say that you're going to look for more?" The goblin gave a wide smile, "cut me in for an equal share and we'll call it all this even."
"Excellent," Harry smiled. "I was going to ask for your help and this just makes things easier."
"Really?" The goblin couldn't believe his ears, "why would you want my help?"
"Well," Harry began. "Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Gringotts do a lot of exploration of old tombs?"
"They do," the goblin nodded.
"And weren't you exploring this place," Harry smiled.
"I was," the goblin nodded again.
"And in doing so you show your competence," Harry finished. "I'd really like to have you along if you can be half as helpful in the future."
"I understand," the goblin nodded. "I'll be happy to help."
"Great, happy to have you along Mr . . ."
"Just call me Architect," the goblin replied. "It's the English translation of my name and it won't hurt my ears every time you try to say it . . . unlike most human attempts at my real name."
"Are you an architect?" Harry blinked.
"I'm trained as one," the Architect nodded. "And as a construction engineer, never got to do much more than simple maintenance and a few small expansions though."
"Why not?"
"No call for it," the Architect shrugged. "All the infrastructure is in place, why should we undertake major projects if there's no need for them . . . I just want to create one thing on my own."
"I see," Harry nodded.
"So I retired," the Architect shrugged. "And I travel the world looking at great works in stone, dreaming about the day I can build my own."
"Well," Harry licked his lips. "That's fairly similar to what my friends are doing."
"We travel the world looking at great engineering projects," Henchgirl chipped in. "And Mr. Black travels the world complaining about how all he wants is a quiet vacation and why do those death eaters keep dieing in accidents that happen to take place in the same general location."
"I think I must have done something terrible in a past life," Harry lamented. "Like destroy a couple civilizations."
"We all have bouts of bad luck," Henchgirl patted Harry's hand sympathetically. "Come Mr. Black, back to the Zeppelin."
"You still haven't thought of a name for it huh?" Harry shook his head, "let's go guys."
"Shouldn't we wait until a team gets here to secure the site?" Asim couldn't believe what was happening.
"No need," Harry squinted at some of the hieroglyphics. "Move out of the way."
The group of people left the room and Asim stared in shock as the wall closed up again, "how do we get back in?"
"Tell them the password is feck-ta," Harry replied. "Does anyone want to get some lunch before we go?"