Chapter 292: Back to the Roots

3rd March 2013, Sayre Manor

(Jasmine Sayre POV)

Rose will use my magic to protect it, defend it, and perhaps even rule it. Evocation magic was very wild. Perhaps, if she does a good job, I'll allow her to regain her title as Queen of Avalon, but we would be strangers then, and she would be nothing more than a successor of an aspect of my duties.

The question that remained was, who was the one that killed the whole Court of Shadows? That level of planning, of resources, to kill all the members at the same moment, was impressive. I needed to examine the corpses, to determine the methods and causes of Death. Rose's fall shouldn't have happened in the first place, nor should her parents have died. Someone engineered it, someone, who knows about her future role as my heir and wanted her out of the way.

I'll need to resolve this mystery quickly; the convergence was nearing and Odin's help with Entropy depends on Asgard's freedom from 'Those Who Sit Above in Shadow'. I didn't have the luxury of messing this up.

Ready to face off against whatever or whoever was interfering, I teleported to Scotland, more specifically, to Hogwarts. The castle was empty for some reason. We were in the middle of the spring semester, meaning that there should have been hundreds of young students walking around the castle.

I walked through the empty corridors; each step was audible because of the deep silence. There weren't even any ghosts. I had planned on sneaking into Hogwarts to hear some of the chatter from the students, the rumors about what happened to the Potter family. Believe it or not, Hogwarts was more than a school, it was the hub of the happenings of magical Britain. It was why Dumbledore chose it to be his metaphorical seat of power. I didn't know anything about what happened, to the Court members, the incident happened yesterday, and it was a good place to start.

Seeing the deserted place, I ready myself to teleport away, probably to the Three Broomsticks or the Hog's Head, where I would disguise myself and listen to conversations. However, I felt a slight ping to my mental shields. Hogwarts was calling for me.

Having missed the being that was effectively my daughter, I slowly walked to the seventh floor, to the heart of the castle and walked three times past a wall facing a familiar tapestry of some moron who tried to teach ballet to trolls of all beings. A large door appeared on the wall, and I walked forwards.

Immediately, I was accosted by a leaping magical construct. It wasn't really a body, but it was the closest thing to a body that an artificial intelligence like Hogwarts would ever have. "Mother," she exclaimed before embracing me. I welcomed her hug with open arms.

I smiled at her, "I have missed you, Daughter."

The artificial intelligence replied, "Me too. Oh, I didn't expect to see you anytime soon, with you being so busy with the whole saving the world thing. Although, I did hear a rumor from a couple of Muggleborns about some woman called the 'Morrigan' who heroically sacrificed herself to save the planet from alien invaders in New York. You wouldn't know who that would be, would you?"

She gave me a coy smirk as she asked me this and I snorted, "Yes, I helped repel the alien invasion. It wasn't even a big one, and it was sabotaged from the inside. So, yeah, it was nothing. So, how have you been?"

Hogwarts shrugged, "Same old, same old. Students come in, and learn some magic, while I do my best to make sure that they don't kill one another. I did have a couple of brilliant young students in the last couple of years. I've helped them find books whenever they've been researching. Other than that, things have been stable, a lot more than your sister's years here, by the way."

I nodded, "So, you heard about…"

"Yeah, I heard about Nathan. I think you were involved somewhat, but I didn't want to presume…"

"Yes, I was. I didn't kill him, of course; it wouldn't serve any purpose to do so. You heard about the attack on Hogsmeade a few months back?"

The artificial intelligence answered back, "Ah, yes, the mighty duel of Hogsmeade. They recognized you for a bit, but then they chalked it up to a distasteful prank to start rumors that you were still alive somehow. They claimed that a magical fight of this size in Hogsmeade of all places, and with no casualties no less, would be extremely unlikely. And since there were no signs of you afterwards, people just assumed that the entire fight was a large scale illusion, nothing more."

I chuckled, "Well, the fight was real, and it was a near thing. I couldn't overpower my opponent, so I tricked him and used a very powerful artefact to defeat him. The problem came from a secretive group called the Court of Shadows that fancied themselves to be the shadow rulers of the magical world. The cell in Britain recognized me because of Hermione Granger, and they tried to control me. They ended up coercing Nathan into kidnapping Rose to put pressure on me but were betrayed by Granger, who killed Nathan in the process. Rose was devastated by his loss, and blamed me for it."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

It was weird, me stating a hurtful experience like this as if it was some report or if I detached from the matter. I remember the pain at my sister's words, and yet, I cannot feel it anymore. How odd…

My daughter looked at me weirdly, before shaking her head, "Seriously, Rose? That doesn't sound like her. I can see young Nathan being coerced; he was never the brightest mind when it came to politics, and I can see young Hermione kill people for a cause she deems righteous. She really reminded me of Albus Dumbledore, not in terms of raw power, but in personality and ambition. It's a shame that it ended this way. They had so much potential."

I just shrugged, "Everyone has potential, daughter. Everyone is born with advantages and disadvantages, how they thrive during their lifetime, how they use this potential is the best way to determine if a life is well lived."

I could understand Hogwarts' attachment to her students and disinterest to the lives of adults. It was her paradoxical nature, one that I put in her core when I created her. It was the seed from which she has grown, which was to protect and love her students. The problem was that students often lose their innocence after they graduate, they lose their wonder of magic, preoccupied with political manoeuvres or hostile takeovers. Many dark lords, murderers, and far worse have graduated from this school, and after a while, the living castle simply learnt not to care about what happens to her students the moment they graduate and leave the castle.

Hogwarts really was a peculiar being. She was without a doubt the only true artificial consciousness on the planet. She was alive, she had a soul, and it sang beautifully. I don't think I would ever be able to replicate her existence. Alfred didn't even come close to her. He was a virtual intelligence. While he tries to mimic human interaction as much as possible, he simply wasn't alive. It was like comparing a magical painting to a real person. Sure, they might be similar, but only one of them was truly alive. Stark didn't come close to matching her, no matter how much he chooses to upgrade JARVIS. Hell, even the Mind Stone couldn't conjure something like her. The infinity stone could create a mind, but it would still be dead, soulless, a machine with no concept of what life is outside of some biological readings. No wonder Ultron would have been insane should Stark have created him and let his mind roam free. He would have wanted an age of steel because as far as he knows, machines are eternal while human existence is fickle. Ultron would have never understood what it means to be alive, and he would have been driven mad trying to figure it out. Not that any of this mattered now, Stark was never going to have access to the Mind Stone, which happens to be safely in the hands of the Celestials.

Hogwarts luckily chose to change the subject, "So, have you and Rose made up yet?"

I shook my head, "Sadly, no. It seems that we will no longer be acquaintances anymore. Her parents' death really rattled her, and she blamed me for everything. We chose to part ways after that. I revoked her access to Avalon and her status as my heir. Some things are just not meant to be, I guess."

Again, that was me oversimplifying things immensely. For some reason, I stopped feeling guilty whenever I thought of Rose. Was this what I have been missing? This sense of inner peace, of acceptance. I was not mortal and thus I was above such issues. I guess that Selene was right, after all; I really did pointlessly try to hold onto my humanity out of fear of becoming something else.

Hogwarts on the other hand looked shocked but then calmed herself, "I didn't know that the Potter family died. I think I would have heard something. But don't worry about your sister, I'm sure that you'll work things out…"

I shook my head, "I don't see that happening, but things with worse odds have happened in the past, I guess."

She gave me a sad smile for some reason before asking, "so, why are you here, really? Don't say that you miss me because you've never come to visit unless you have to. Just come out and say it and save me the hassle of guessing."

I stifled a chuckle at her cheeky face, "Fine. The Potters were killed this morning, as were thousands of influential wizards and witches around the planet. All the members of the Court of Shadows died yesterday at midnight. The Potters themselves died because of some riot that happened afterwards. That's what Rose told me, at least. This wasn't supposed to happen. Someone has been meddling in Rose's affairs and set this all up."

Hogwarts looked flabbergasted at my statement, "Thousands of wizards and witches died at the exact same moment from all around the world. I've never heard of anything like this before. I guess this is why the students were sent home. The faculty didn't say anything regarding what happened, only that there was an incident and people needed to go home."

I was disappointed but unsurprised. Hogwarts really didn't care about the happenings outside her wards. As long as no student was harmed, she doesn't really concern herself with the affairs of the wizarding world. I guess I'll have to look elsewhere.

As if reading my mind, Hogwarts spoke up, "I know that you're busy, Mother, but please do come to visit after you're done with this. I think there are things we need to speak of."

I nodded, "Of course, daughter."

I turned and walked towards the entrance of the Room of Requirements, but I heard Hogwarts speaking to me one last time, "Are you sure you're alright, Mother? You just feel different."

I nodded, "I am quite fine, don't worry. A lot's happened in the last few years. I have changed. I've become something else, something more…"

As I left the magical room, I heard a small whisper, "I just hope you haven't lost yourself along the way…"

Choosing to ignore this sentence I prepare myself to teleport away, but a familiar voice with a Scottish accent came from behind me, "Young lady, did you miss the train back home? The school is closed for the moment. There was an announcement in the morning."

I turned around to see Minerva McGonagall's face which morphed slowly from anger to shock as she recognized my face. The elderly witch murmured to herself, "Impossible. Jasmine Potter?"

I really need to disguise myself in the future to avoid these kinds of situations.

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