Chapter 263: Courtly Visitations
9th February 2013, Diagon Alley
(Jasmine Sayre POV)
The man didn’t know much, but he had followed Doge out of curiosity, or perhaps hoping for some blackmail. It turns out that every month, Doge goes to Malfoy Manor for a meeting. He had tried to confront the man, in a greedy attempt at getting more money, but he was obliviated immediately. It was a rush job; probably because Doge had panicked since revealing the Court’s existence is an easy way to die, but since Fletcher had no clue what the mind arts even were, it didn’t matter much.
But now, it does, since it seems like I know where the meetings take place, lucky me. If they continue with their schedule, there was a meeting scheduled tonight. How fortunate.
I get out of the thief’s mind and let his drooling body fall down. Sending a stunning spell at him to stop his muttering, due to a severe telepathic probe. Wait a minute, did I use a stunning spell? Have I been using magic this whole time?
It was very weird, that shouldn’t have been possible. I had changed my magic core into a cosmic one. I shouldn’t be able to cast spells. I shouldn’t have even been able to use a wand, not that I needed it. Magic and cosmic energy were just different. My new energy was far denser and more primal than magic ever was, which means that what just happened should have been impossible.
I look at the wand in my hand, Mahogany with a core of a Unicorn hair, wasted on a petty thief and mercenary like that Fletcher guy. The wand had submitted itself completely to my control, which meant that I should be able to use it, if I was a witch that is.
Confused beyond measure, I flicked the wand, and a stunning spell flew out of it, hitting one of the groaning men that I was fighting. It looked exactly like a stunning charm cast by any mage on the planet.
Curious, very curious. I decide to take a closer look at the energy output to find out what was happening. I release another stunning spell, making sure that the energy conversion is small. A wand would crack if it was used to channel cosmic energy, the magic would just be overwhelmed. It was why I still haven’t rebuilt a proper focus yet. I had ideas, but it will take a lot of experimentation to figure it out for sure. One thing is for certain; I am planning on having one made before the Ragnarök mess happens. I have a feeling that I’ll need one to deal with ‘Those who Sit Above in Shadow’.
I could feel the cosmic energy flowing towards my hand and slowly as it moves towards the wand, it’s transforming itself into magical energy. No, transforming isn’t really what’s happening, I think mimicking is more appropriate. Cosmic energy was always flexible, and reflexively, I used it to mimic my magic, since I am still used to fighting using magic after thousands of years using it.
The process was terribly inefficient though, most of the cosmic energy was just wasted when I try to use my magic. I couldn’t really do anything about it, cosmic energy was just denser than magic, and to mimic it, I unconsciously try to make cosmic energy have the same density as magic, meaning that my body just removes the excess cosmic energy and dilutes the rest to the appropriate amount.
Truth be told, I was having problems instinctively using my cosmic energy like I do my magic. After thousands of years of muscle memory, change is somewhat difficult. Sure, cosmic energy was remarkably intuitive to use, depending almost entirely on the intent of the user, while magic needs a lot of practice to learn how to shape your magic appropriately. When I focus on it, I could use it without any problem, but it just wasn’t the same. And even this magic mimicking, while it helps me slightly, it isn’t really a good thing in the long run. I guess I just need to practice until it becomes second nature to me, just like breathing.
Well, that’s one mystery solved, now onto the second one. I need to focus on the Court for now. I didn’t expect them to be so heavy handed, which means that they’re probably planning something sensitive that involves Rose.
I cast a Tempus charm, and frown. The Court meeting is going to begin soon, and so I teleport to where I remember Malfoy Manor was. I just slipped through the wards without any problems. They really weren’t anything special at all. They mostly relied on a few intent wards, alongside some kind of access ward that only allowed people invited through either a formal invitation or a mark on their magic for long term access. These wards probably sounded impressive, if it wasn’t for the fact that a master of the mind arts could easily mask his intentions, while invitations rely on a certain magical signature and a skilled enough warder or ward breaker could mimic the signature of the invitation needed using arithmancy, without much of an issue. Well, not much of an issue for me. I could understand why the Malfoys feel safe in this manor in this day and age.
They probably think that the only way for their wards to fall would be through someone brute forcing it, leaving them enough time to evacuate, since the wards were powered by a ley line.
As I predicted, I just walked through the wards and the Manor revealed itself to me. Damn, I forgot how pretentious these people were. The mansion itself looked more like a small castle than anything else. I don’t understand why they needed a property this large, especially with a dwindling family. Alas, now was not the time for me to rant on the idiocy of wizarding nobility, I had better things to worry about.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
In front of the entrance was a pathway directly to the Manor, which was surrounded by yew hedges. Funnily enough they had albino peacocks flying about. Seriously, who has peacocks at their home?
I scan the entrance for a moment, and I sigh in disappointment. They didn’t even add extra wards on the manor entrance, just an alert charm when the door opens, probably to be notified when guests arrive. What is wrong with these people? Do they have no concept of security whatsoever. I just flick my hand and the wooden door melts away in the middle and I step through, making sure that it returns to its previous state. Here, the door didn’t open, and now, I was completely inside their place of residence.
Once inside, I was met with a hallway which was large, dimly lit, and sumptuously decorated, with a magnificent carpet covering the stone floor. The walls of the entrance hall displayed pale-faced portraits lining the walls, and at the end of the hall was the bronze-handled door to the drawing room.
With a flick of my fingers, I froze all of the portraits, to prevent them from warning the residents, and made my way towards the drawing room, which from what I sensed, was the only room actually warded against entry. Again, these idiots only used the authorization ward, which only works with marked members. I supposed that this was the meeting room of the Court of Shadows.
Again, I mimic the magical signature needed, and instead of going through the door, I put a very strong notice me not charm on a section of the wall and transfigure an opening in the wall for me to walk into the room. The moment I was inside, I repaired the wall, and stood up in the corner, hidden while the meeting proceeded.
I didn’t recognize most of these people, because, well, I just didn’t care, and I haven’t checked up on magical Britain personally for a while. I get reports every now and then, from my Unspeakables. Now, let’s eavesdrop on the magical world’s version of the Illuminati.
Draco Malfoy, funnily enough, was directing the meeting. Although he didn’t seem to really be in control, “I have to say that I have some doubts about the upcoming plan. It could backfire horribly, and we’re dealing with a complete unknown here.”
Elphias Doge answered, “Don’t get cold feet now, boy. We have a viable plan, and it’s one we voted on during the last meeting.”
Malfoy sneered, “Our first meeting now failed. Nott’s summoning gambit didn’t work. We couldn’t find anything that has her magical signature to get it to work, and when we tried to use her name to do it, it just didn’t work. What we’re doing now is beyond dangerous, we’re playing with fire here.”
The Greengrass woman snorted, “We are mages; we play with things far more dangerous than magic.”
I inwardly snorted. These idiots tried summoning me, someone of my power, without an anchor. After the Goblet of Fire mess, I made sure to track down and destroy any blood samples taken during my childhood, before my travel to the past.
Summoning was a very delicate art that could be used in many different ways. You could summon ethereal beasts and have them fight for your sake, you could summon demons or even gods, and you could summon someone who is still alive, which is probably what they tried. In every case, you need an anchor to the thing you’re trying to summon, like blood, magic, even a name might suffice if the entity you’re trying to summon is powerful enough.
They seemed to have attempted to summon me with a fake name, something that I would have resisted easily if it had worked. I am the Morrigan, that’s who I am. Sure, I tend to have identities during each lifetime, but in my core, I am the Morrigan, the last Daughter of Atlantis.
Damn, if these were the people that Selene was worried about, then this was going to be a piece of cake. Although Zachariah Smith interjected, “I hate to say this, but Malfoy has a point. Doing this is just asking for trouble.”
Elphias Doge interjected, “You youngsters don’t understand, not really. There’s a reason that we are being so heavy handed with the Potter situation. You never saw Lord Voldemort massacre hundreds of magical lines just because they opposed him. You didn’t see Grindelwald slaughter entire battalions of Aurors and Hit Wizards as if they were nothing more than insects before him. You didn’t even see Dumbledore dismissing his own allies during his legendary Duel with Grindelwald, killing friend and foe. They don’t consider us, mere mortals, to be their equals. The fact that Rose Potter had slipped through the cracks was worrying enough, Jasmine Potter still being alive will cause nothing more than strife and destruction for all. It might look desperate, because we are desperate. We need to protect our world, and with the Massacre of the Tri Wizard tournament ending so many family lines, and endangering even more, we need to secure the future of magical Britain. The Court of Shadows has existed for a reason, and that noble purpose has yet to be fulfilled.”
Malfoy nodded, “I can understand our purpose perfectly. But we’re still dealing with an unknown, and one who doesn’t want anything to do with us. Unnecessarily antagonizing her will bring destruction upon us. We have no mage that can stand up to her. You saw what happened in Hogsmeade, do you want to be on the receiving end of that? I was onboard with the previous plan because it was viable. We could have summoned her and trapped her, or even bound her, but this is madness. We are antagonizing her without any assurance that she won’t attack us. We are not her equals, magically speaking.”
Greengrass sighed in resignation, “She will turn her eye to Britain, they always do. It’s better to encounter her on our terms than on hers. Besides, the Court has access to ancient tomes with far more powerful traps for us to use. Jasmine Potter will not know what hit her.”
I let out a terrifying grin and reveal myself, “Won’t I, now? I heard that you wanted my attention, well you have it now. Tell me, members of the Court of Shadows, do you fear Death?”
----------------------------------------
Alright, this is it, we're finally caught up to the current events of the story. This means that there will be no more mass uploads. I generally post four chapters a week, on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. I tend to be consistent (I have been for more than a year now) but I will let you know if I miss an upload day.
On the other hand, if you want to support me, check out my Patreon. I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 15 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.