Steaming from the ears, Professor Vance stood by the classroom window gazing at the rain. Gusts of wind drove it against the darkened panes of glass. In the reflection, Gummy watched as his students began to file in. Turning around, he noticed that his weren’t the only ears steaming. “I see a number of us have paid Madame Pomfrey a visit this morning,” the History of Magic Professor said with a chuckle. “I suppose it wouldn’t be Autumn at Hogwarts without cold, rainy days and ears steaming from Pepperup Potion.” Most of the students in the class ruefully agreed.
“Do any of you happen to be Muggleborn?” Gummy asked. A few of the students raised their hands and he pointed to one with steaming ears. “Millie, let me ask you a question. How long does it take your parents to get over a cold?”
“Oh, it can take weeks. And sometimes the cold just seems to hang on and hang on,” Millie replied. “I’ve told them about the Pepperup Potion. They really wish wizards would sell it to Muggles.”
“Of course they do,” the Professor said solemnly. “After all, we aren’t talking about the convenience of Portkeys or a faster way to heat up dinner. It’s about easing the suffering of other human beings. Thousands of years ago in Egypt, there were witches and wizards who felt rather passionately about this topic. They believed that if you have the ability to help someone who is sick or injured, you have the inherent responsibility to do so.”
Gummy stretched out his long arm and made a swirling loop of his wand. On the wall above the chalkboard, a woman knelt with outstretched wings. She was surrounded by cartouches and hieroglyphics. Directly above her was an arch of blue tiles that symbolized the sky.
“This painting covers part of one of the walls in the tomb of Seti I, one of the pharaohs who ruled during the New Kingdom. His tomb in the Valley of the Kings has been excavated by Muggle archaeologists. Almost two thousand years after the witch in this painting died, Muggles in Egypt and throughout Europe were still looking to her for aid in healing.
“This witch was even more adored than Bastet. In some areas she was called Aset, in others, Eset, Ist, Iset, or Ueset. The list of her names is so long that she has been called the Lady of Ten Thousand Names. She is best known as Isis. Who can tell me what is the most obvious difference between Isis and the other famous Egyptians we have studied so far?”
Once again, a number of students raised their hands. This time, Gummy nodded to a sandy-haired young man with bangs so long they almost hid his eyes. “Isis is also depicted in an incomplete human-to-animal transfiguration, but unlike Ra and Bastet, she transfigured her arms and left her head human.”
“Precisely! Well said.” Gummy strode to the front of the classroom. Standing beneath the image of Isis he continued, “The significance of this cannot be overstated. Isis was a healer. She and the witches and wizards who followed her used spells and potions to help Muggles. Isis was known as a friend of the widow and the orphan, a champion of the poor and the weak, and as the one who helps at births and deaths. The followers of Isis were the midwives, medics, the Madame Pomfreys, and the first morticians of Ancient Egypt.”
Gummy paused as if weighing his next words. “Isis said publicly that what set her and her Healers apart was simply that they could use magic, not that they were gods. 'We have magic,' she said, but otherwise we're all just human." The Professor looked about the room at shocked faces and waited for the exclamations of alarm and a few cheers to die down. "Her words are recorded in a number of documents such as The Book of the Dead. It has only been thanks to years of disinformation that Muggles continue to misinterpret and incorrectly translate her relentless attempts to get Muggles to see magic and witches and wizards as they really are.
"The person currently charged with perpetuating this disinformation is a wizard named Zahi Hawass. Hawass is a prominent Egyptian archaeologist and Egyptologist. An Egyptologist is a Muggle term for an archaeologist who specializes in the study of Egyptian antiquities. In addition to having held a seat on the International Confederation of Wizards for over a decade, Hawass is a bit of a Muggle television star.” Gummy shook his head and chuckled. “No documentary or reality tv show that features Egyptian pyramids, mummies, temples or the famous Rosetta stone is complete without at least one cameo of old Zahi.”
Gummy flicked his wand and a stack of papyrus sheets whisked off the window sill towards the students. “The homework is due by 11:59 pm on Hallowe’en. I suppose I should apologize for that, but 31 October is the due date. No way around it. Owl me if you have any questions. Oh, and don’t forget, there’s a quiz next class.”
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