"Well," Philo was unsure of telling the story until he remembered that Abigail didn't go to Hogwarts and was nearly of age anyways. He lead them into the room. "Umm...there's this room in Hogwarts that has different things in it depending on what you need. A few of us explored it to find some interesting treasures. I was looking for other stuff, gadgetry for a project I'm working on. Then this latched onto me."

He picked up the edges of the carpet and flattened it with a whiplash. The pattern really was intricate when you looked at it. He traced a few shapes. "You really think carpets got all the way out here? I can see flying carpets being popular in ancient times but this has yet to fully part from the ground. If it can't fly what is it for?"

"And how did it get in the hidden room in Hogwarts anyways?" Flying carpets, and the Chase-You-Down-To-Trip-You carpets by association, fell out of fashion in the UK even before the ban. It would have had to have been in that room for ages. But before that... "You don't think the carpet could have actually been in Egypt before?"

"The room of requirement?" Abby's eyes lit up as she sat on one of the beds, swinging her feet slightly. She'd read about Hogwarts a few times, even more so after she'd discovered she'd never be able to attend school there.

She was glad the younger boy decided to tell her about it, and realized with surprise that the two Ravenclaws were more adventurous than first impressions had led her to believe!

"Maybe it's half-finished? Or half-enchanted, or whatever? Or maybe it was never supposed to fly. Maybe it's supposed to, I don't know, transport people like one of those sedan chairs," Abby rambled.

"Yeah, I reckon it could have been in Egypt before," she glanced at Alvis, wondering what he thought. "Hogwarts has been around for, what, at least a thousand years? Plenty of time for some hapless visitor to lose the thing at Hogwarts."

"Over a thousand - Hogwarts: A History puts the founding in 990 C.E." Alvis rattled off, tracing the carpet's design with his finger. Runner gave a little trembled under his hand, like a hairless cat delighting in the rare sensation of being stroked. "I suppose it could have been left by an exchange student, or during one of the old international Tournaments..."

He let his hand fall back against his knee. A tasseled corner popped up and batted at his fingers like a playful cat. Encouraging the contact, attempting a game, or just releasing some extra energy in its restlessness? Alvis couldn't have said, but he found it endearing.

"Maybe it's old. Invisibility cloaks lose their powers after a while, even the best only last for a hundred years or so. And old brooms are the same way - my neighbor Mister Rawlins has a Comet 180 that can barely get off the ground. I imagine a carpet's powers could fade the same way, if it were left dormant long enough."

Oh duh, the Room of Requirement. Way to forget your recent history, Falkin.

"It must be very old," Philo agreed. "The way we found in the Room of Requirement it launched itself from the ash on the floor, so it had to have been in there before the Battle of Hogwarts." Being a more ancient relic would also explain the innate power of the object. A carpet like this created in this day and age would attract more hoopla. In fact, for facing Fiendfyre and being buried under ash for so long, there was no trace evidence of defilement on Runner. Chalk it up as another power for the starched rug.

Philo got to thinking. "If Runner's been through Egypt before..." He opened his trunk, moved aside the suntan potion that started this whole mess and pulled out the trip itinerary. "There! Next week we'll be at the Cairo Antiquities Market. That's really well known, including the wizard district. You don't suppose..." shifty eyes between the two of them "there might be like, a record? Or someone who knows of it?"

It suddenly occurred to Abby that she was hanging out with nerds! Nerdy Ravenclaws; the best sort. She spent enough time with Sasha that she was surprised she hadn't realized it earlier. Putting a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh, she shook her head at Alvis rattling off the possible dates of the founding of Hogwarts. His idea about the rug functioning like an invisibility cloak made sense, though.

"We could ask around!" Abby suggested after Philo, including herself without a second thought. "I know I have an English-Arabic dictionary somewhere, but I'm sure we'll still get a whole lot of 'you want rug? we have rug!' misunderstandings. I might be able to ask my sis a few questions about it, too. Very, very discreetly, of course," she widened her eyes, then grinned, understanding full well the need for secrecy.

"I can't wait!" She hopped up, glancing at the two younger boys. "I love shopping!"

The rug perked up at her excited tone, and seemed to tilt its upper half questioningly.

Alvis tapped the side of his nose thoughtfully. "That is an idea...I don't know if there would be a record or anything, but with all the Arabic cultures who meet up around here, we might be able to find a flying carpet maker who speaks English. They could tell us whether it's normal for one to lose its powers, and how long it would take. That would at least give us an idea of when it got into the room of requirement..."

Runner lifted its upper half questioningly, its corners batting the air. Alvis twisted one of the tassels around his finger thoughtfully. "Plus, they can tell us why a carpet to have this much sense in it. It's acting like those weird brooms in muggle Halloween movies - more like a pet than a bit of transportation. It's weird."

He glanced up at Philo and noticed, with a tinge of sympathy, that his face was still bright red with sunburn. "I think the antiques market would be a good shot, but you should probably get a better sunscreen potion before you go wandering around in the sun all day. My auntie's cooking a remedy up in her bathroom. You look like you need it."

"Right," Philo said, agreeing with them. "Something this ancient and powerful must have some mention of it in the local culture. And I'm sure I can ask you guys not to mention, err, Runner until we at least know more about it." The Room of Requirement did make things fuzzy. Was the stuff in there property of the school, when much of the junk was things people had discarded over the ages?

"She is? Thank you. I'm going to have to find some proper potion for the rest of the trip." He turned to look at the carpet. "So...stay put. In a few days we can take you out and about, but behave!" Philo followed Alvis to his room for the sunburn remedy. He felt they were on the verge of some discovery.