Chapter 293: Chasing Shadows

3rd March 2013, Hogwarts

(Jasmine Sayre POV)

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.

Instead of panicking, I gave her a smirk and nodded, "Minerva McGonagall. I suppose it would be fitting to say that rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated."

I always wanted to say this sentence. However, the transfiguration mistress didn't seem to understand my reference, and spoke up, "I heard some rumors after that tasteless prank a few months ago, but I didn't believe them. How are you still alive?"

I just shrugged, "I never died in the first place. I fooled everyone, even Dumbledore and went back home, to America."

The current Headmistress of Hogwarts looked surprised at this, "I knew that you had some difficulties with James and Lily, but I didn't expect you to move halfway across the world just to get away from them."

"I didn't do it for them. I had a life there, which was interrupted by that silly tournament. I still have a life there. James and Lily Potter did not factor in my decision at all. I knew that my display was bound to get me noticed and I would have been forced to stay either to remain under Dumbledore's, Voldemort's, or even the Ministry's control. I just decided to get ahead and just get away when I could."

The transfiguration mistress nodded, understanding my decision. I will admit that I never really took the time to get to know McGonagall, in this universe or the one I was trapped in after my ill-fated duel with Entropy. The woman was without a doubt, a master in her art, or at least, as close as a regular mage could be. Transfiguration, when taught using wand magic, was very complicated in theory.

To be able to craft a transfiguration spell, you needed to take into account the composition of every element in the object you want to transfigure, and also the object you want it to be transfigured into. The number of theories was very extensive, each one with a different property and every single one needed to be thoroughly understood by every transfiguration master. It was why they are so admired in the magical world.

Minerva McGonagall more than deserved her title as the headmistress of this school, and as one of its founders, I could do nothing but privately endorse her appointment. The woman chose to speak up, "I am sorry for your loss Ms. Potter, I do not doubt that you heard about your parents' passing. They were dear friends of mine."

I could tell that she was restraining her emotions. I decided not to correct her about them being my parents. It just wasn't the time, "Yeah, it came as a shock. I guess this place reminds me of them, in a way. It's why I came here in the first place."

"Did they know about your survival after your duel with Dumbledore?"

I nodded, "Yes, I told them years after. With them gone, I suppose that you're the only one who knows I'm alive in the magical world."

She looked surprised at this, "Rose didn't know?"

"She does not know about my survival. Although, I did leave her the means to continue her magical education. I've heard that she's progressed greatly in developing her magic."

I didn't even lie. Rose currently doesn't remember my existence. As far as she knows, I died during the third task. My evocation was absolute, what I spoke was now a fact. Rose will forget about me and will not teach anyone what I've taught her.

McGonagall nodded, "Yes, she made quite the stir in the Wizengamot in the last few years. The poor dear must have been very distraught about what happened. To lose her brother and her parents this quickly, she barely even had the time to grieve Nathan."

Yes, Rose was really overwhelmed by what happened. I mean, she broke into my house and almost killed two Asgardian princes. Yes, I'd call that being distraught.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Can you tell me about James and Lily's deaths? I didn't hear much other than it happened during a riot in France."

The transfiguration mistress nodded, "Sure, but I will admit not being very knowledgeable about it. As far as I know, Lily and James found themselves in the midst of a duel between the French Aurors and a few people that were rioting against the economic crash that occurred because of the massacre. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

I shook my head in resignation before asking, "What economic collapse were you talking about?"

"Well, it's why we returned the students home. A few months ago, some of the most influential men and women in Britain disappeared and their investments fell shortly after. We believe that it was linked to Nathan Potter's death, who was the Minister at the time. Anyway, with Britain being a hub of magical trading, other countries were affected by the lack of production. However, as you probably know, thousands of people were killed at the same time across the globe, all very rich and very politically powerful. The situation was bad; the entire magical world had frozen, and even the Goblin Nation closed Gringotts for everyone and refused wizards and witches to access their gold. Riots started to happen everywhere, including the one that ended up causing your parents' deaths."

Well, that was a mess I didn't feel like dealing with. I probably would have been hands on, ready to subtly right things back to the way they used to be, but no more. I was done. The magical world could deal with this mess. It was time for me to let go. It was oddly freeing to just nod along without planning on ways to rectify the issue. The mist should help prevent magical issues from spiraling out to the rest of the world, and as far as I'm concerned, I have enough problems to deal with.

My thoughts were interrupted by McGonagall's voice, "If you don't mind, I was wondering if you could shed some light on a few things concerning Albus Dumbledore."

Huh, I can't say that I expected that one. I haven't really thought about the man, or at least this universe's version of him, for years. He was just a meaningless man, in the grand scheme of it all. He was ambitious, I'll give him that. Trying to unite the magical world under a single banner, his banner, was a very ambitious goal to pursue, and it required the man to sacrifice all his values to see it done.

Not knowing what to expect, I gave her a slight nod. The transfiguration mistress asked her question, "Was he as horrible a man as they made him out to be?"

I could feel her emotions leak when asking this question. I wasn't even looking for it and the woman was a very good Occlumens, but it seems that Dumbledore, who had trained her personally, still held a place in her heart. Honestly, if it was anyone else, I would have just said yes and been done with it, but this woman, his personal student, needed some closure. Plus, there was some truth to what I was going to say.

In the end, I shrugged and answered, "Albus Dumbledore was a flawed and self-righteous man who had a very large ego that he always tried to hide. But he wasn't evil, not in the way Tom Riddle was. He was scarred by a relatively different childhood and was riddled with guilt over his sister's death. He didn't want to hurt anyone at his core, but he mostly wanted people to live peacefully. In a way, that made him much more dangerous. He had an admirable dream, of world peace. It's hard to say no to that, but what made him slowly fall, was the sacrifices he had to make to achieve this goal, his 'Greater Good'. So, don't worry, he wasn't an evil man, just a very opinionated one that had no reservation to do horrible things to create a magical utopia in the long run."

By the time I was done, the transfiguration mistress had tears in her eyes. I didn't even lie, Dumbledore was all of that, but by the end of it, he was really toeing the line towards becoming evil.

Back to the massacre issue, I still wanted to know who was responsible, and who was able to alter fate this drastically. I didn't think that it was Entropy. He wouldn't involve himself in something this meaningless to him, and Rose wasn't powerful enough to make a difference in our inevitable final battle. Perhaps the Headmistress knew more about the massacre than she let on. After all, it was my main lead. The most probable cause of death was through the use of poison, which had been activated all around the world at the exact same time. It was probably not activated with a trigger, a magical signal like that would have been felt all around the globe. No, it was probably timed ahead of time.

I needed more data to make conclusions, "Professor McGonagall, I was wondering if you knew which poison was used in the massacre?"

The Headmistress' eyes widened slightly, "I don't believe that a poison was used at all, Ms. Potter."

"Please elaborate…"

"From what I gathered, it seems like the bodies were turned into husks as if they were drained of all life. Their skin was shrivelled, and they looked as if they were bodies that died years ago. The victims were barely more than skin and bones by the end of it."

No, it couldn't be. I have seen this happen many times before, in the past. I needed to confirm it. It didn't make any sense. Why would it happen now, and on such a large scale?

"Are you sure about this?" I asked coldly.

"Yes, I heard that the Department of Mysteries is trying to figure it out. They got their hands on one of the bodies somehow. No one was able to make heads or tails out of it."

Alright, the Department of Mysteries had access to a body. I needed to see one to make sure before anything would happen.

I turned and teleported away to the DoM, ignoring the transfiguration mistress's questions. She must be scared out of her wits to see someone teleporting away from Hogwarts.

I walk past the magical maze that made up the department. It was night and there wasn't anyone there. I walked towards the room that was usually used to maintain bodies under stasis and looked for the newest one. It was a gentleman by the name of 'Jean Delacour'. He was probably related to the young woman I competed against in the tournament, but that didn't matter.

A single glance at the body told me that my fears were true. This man, probably a former member of the Court of Shadows, was drained entirely. He was barely more than skin and bones, but there was more to it. His entire life force was drained in seconds. And there is only one person I know who is capable of this, one person who has the knowledge to apply it to such a scale. Selene, my wife, had massacred the Court of Shadows.

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