Chapter 51: Severing Ties
24th March 1995, Hogwarts
(Jasmine POV)
I turn and walk up the stairs to the headmaster’s office. The door opens automatically in front of me, showing Dumbledore, sitting on his desk with James and Lily Potter standing on his right and Nathan on his left. Rose was sitting on one of the chairs. She had tears streaming on her face. Well, this is ominous.
“Please take a seat, Miss Evanshade.”
I silently sat down and started looking at them without blinking and notice Dumbledore’s intact hand. I inwardly smile, I knew he had touched the cursed ring at the Gaunt shack. My wards alerted me when he did. After all, I was the one that enhanced Voldemort’s curse with blood magic and allowed it to affect him despite the phoenix essence he stole. I was also the one that modified the curse into disappearing from the ring after it was touched. Grindelwald’s death made sense now. A life for a life.
“I was told you wanted to see me?” I asked.
“Yes, Miss Evanshade. It seems we have a bit of a situation on our hands.” The old man had a victorious smile on his face.
“And what would this situation be?”
“I have heard of your lessons with young Rose, and I was disturbed on their content.”
“How so?”
“You’ve been teaching her Dark Magic. No daughter of mine will be a dark witch.” James snarled at me. And he wondered why I didn’t want to return to his family.
“I have not taught her any dark magic.” I calmly answered.
“There’s no need to hide the truth, young Jasmine. We have a witness.” Albus said in his grandfatherly disappointed tone.
“And I can affirm you that I haven’t taught Rose a single dark spell.” I responded back.
“LIAR!” Nathan snarled at me, “I heard you say to her that you’re a dark witch. I’ve seen you use dark magic. Don’t try to deny it, I was invisible.”
Of course, I knew that he was there, he was trying to sneak up on me using the invisibility cloak that I made. I let him do it because, after all this time, if there is something I appreciate it is the freedom of choice. Even if they’re being manipulated, people need to make mistakes and learn from them. It’s what makes them human.
I have spent so much time as a slave to the timeline, without having any choice that I now cherish the freedom I have. It’s true what they say, you only know the value of what you have when it’s gone.
The boy should be free to make his choices, even if they’re the wrong ones. He has to make his own mistakes to grow. The Hogwarts headmaster is on a tight rope anyway, Nathan will learn the truth about him one day. Perhaps that day he will learn to think for himself.
I look at my former twin without a single emotion on my face, “And yet, you said nothing about me teaching her the dark arts.”
Dumbledore jumped at the chance, “So you do not deny being a dark witch?”
“And what would you consider dark magic?” I ask back at him. One of my favorite methods of interrogation is answering questions with another question. It gives you control over the conversation.
“What I mean with dark magic is the type of magic made just to hurt others.” He lectured at me. I have to admit, he is quite charismatic. He must have been a good teacher. Too bad he’s a shit headmaster.
“In that case wouldn’t any type of offensive spell be considered dark magic. Is the stinging hex dark magic? Because if it is, then you have bigger problem since Professor Moody has been teaching that spell to first years.” I barely could myself back from laughing. Rose even giggled at my response.
“No, my dear,” I could see him slowly get frustrated at my lack of answer, “I meant spells where you power with your negative emotions.”
“In competitive dueling, I have seen people channel anger into a cutting charm and banishing charms to use them offensively. Are you saying that cutting charms and banishing charms are dark spells?”
I could see his eye twitch at the fact that I’m turning everything around on him. His closed his eyes for a second and sighed. “No, my girl. These spells are not dark. But for the safety of our community, the ministry has banned certain spells and branches of magic. Those who practice them present a clear danger not only to others but to themselves as well.”
“So, the issue resides in the fact that I performed a spell that is banned by the British ministry of magic?” I questioned.
“Yes, you must confess to your misdemeanor. It would make any punishment much more lenient.” He said in his grandfatherly tone once more.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“What misdemeanor are you speaking of? I have not used a single spell banned by your ministry.”
Nathan couldn’t control himself anymore and practically shouted at me, “Then what about the shadowy spell you used. Wasn’t it dark magic?”
“Well going by the headmaster’s definition of dark magic, it’s the spells banned by the British ministry that I’m not allowed to cast. If you’re so certain of the nature of the spell, then you must tell me what it’s called.”
“The spell annihilated ten dummies at the same time, what would you call it?” My former twin asked me again.
“Sayre family magic.” I simply answer. That must have stumped him. One does not ask about another house’s family magic. We stayed at that stalemate for almost a minute until Nathan couldn’t handle it anymore.
“You admitted to Rose that you’re a dark witch.” He practically growled at me.
I sigh, “If you’re going by the literal definition of the word, then yes, I am a dark witch. I have never denied it and I am proud master of that branch of magic. I don’t understand what the issue is. I haven’t broken any laws, used any sort of banned magic or hurt anyone.”
“The issue we have is the fact that what your lessons with young Rose entails. There’s a reason why people learn dark magic after they reach their majority. They would be consumed by the emotions needed to fuel their spells. Feeling so much negative emotions in your formative years is just an easy gateway to madness and an early death. If you want to take an example, Bellatrix Lestrange, then Black, learned dark magic from the moment she stepped into Hogwarts and even more than a decade after her incarceration, people still speak of her madness. Frankly, I am appalled that your guardians allowed you to learn such magic, you could have easily turned out like her.”
“I assure you headmaster; my mind is very well protected. I have no problems managing my emotions.” I say, smirking at the memory of what I did to Severus Snape.
The headmaster has caught on to what I’m referencing to and frowned almost imperceptibly.
“You may have learnt to manage your emotions, but the issue resides that your sister had no such training. Her parents and I agree that it’s not for her best interest to learn from you.”
“I don’t understand, why do you think I’m teaching Rose dark magic? As I said before, I haven’t taught her a single dark spell. And even if I did, she would be quite bad at it. She doesn’t have the affinity for it.” I answer back.
“Then what are you teaching her, then?” This time it was James that asked me, quite aggressively. To think the man, a few months ago was begging for my forgiveness. One accusation from Albus Dumbledore, turned him against his daughter. This was proof that I was right not accepting their offer to join their family.
“Mainly the mind arts and runes. Then, we started working on illusions and ice magic. I started her out on a bit of healing but nothing too serious. Don’t worry, she was healing fish not people, so there’s no danger to herself.”
I look around me and notice that they’re still aggressive and I knew why. They had made their decisions before I even got here. Well, at least James and Lily will stop pestering me about pleading for forgiveness.
I continue, “but you don’t care about that, do you? Rose would have told you all of this and yet you wanted to question me. To find a way to justify your actions. The issue isn’t the fact that you think that I am teaching your daughter dangerous magics. The issue you have is that I am a dark witch. I expected more of you. Well, not from James or Dumbledore but from Lily. You always advocated that dark was not evil, but push comes to shove, you fear having a dark witch for a daughter.”
Lily’s eyes were watering, “I have to do what is best for my family. I will not risk Rose turning into another Bellatrix. Even if it costs me whatever hope I had for you to forgive the suffering I put you through.”
“You already made your decision before I even got here.” I spoke. It wasn’t a question, but a statement. They had already passed judgement on me.
“We cannot afford to have you influence Rose with your ideals. I’m afraid that you will not be allowed to spend any more time with Rose or Nathan.” James said.
“You do understand what this means? If you go through with this, you will be officially giving up on me. After the tournament, I will return to America, and I will not contact you or your wife again.” I looked him in the eyes to make sure he knows that I’m serious.
But his expression was neutral, and after a quick mental scan I confirmed that he does not regret his decision. He’s using my status as a dark witch, to justify his abandonment of me when I was a baby. What a truly pathetic man.
“The Potter family was always a light one. I will not allow a dark witch to tarnish our reputation. The dark families could take advantage of it. I’m sorry, I just can’t risk it.” He was not sorry; I could tell but I kept watching him impassively.
He raised his hand, showing his lordship ring. “You are a Potter, no more,” he bellowed. A flash of light came from the ring, and nothing happened. I knew what he tried to do. It was probably Dumbledore’s idea. The Lord’s ring was a piece of blood magic that allows the lord to monitor the members of the family. In case of betrayal, it can cast the offended party out of the family.
And when I mean cast out, I meant by blood and magic. It changes their blood so that they would not be related to anyone in the family, and it changes their magic so that they could no longer use family magic. Needless to say, being cast out is very painful. Or at least it would have been for me if I was actually related to them or hadn’t protected myself against blood magic.
I look to James’ incredulous look, I guess he expected me to be screaming in pain. I say, “I told you before, I am not a Potter. I was blood adopted into another family. I have their blood and their magic. But what you had tried to do is unforgivable. This just shows me how right I was when I refused to join your family.”
They did not talk. They were obviously too ashamed to do so. So, I add, “But while you have no jurisdiction over me, you are Rose’s guardian. You are responsible of her health and her education. You have the right to stop me from meeting Rose. So, if that is your wish, I will abide.”
James nods and Rose burst into tears.
Telepathically, I send to Rose, ‘Do not worry, dear sister, we will meet again. As for your education, I have taught you the basics, you can learn by yourself, now. And if you need help, go to the seventh floor, in front of the tapestry depicting the attempt of Barnabas the Barmy to teach trolls ballet. Walk past it three times, asking for a place to learn in your head. The castle will provide what you need. Help is always given to Hogwarts to those who ask.’
This does not reassure her, but she visibly calms down.
“I guess this is goodbye then.” I look up at Rose and say, “Goodbye, sweet sister.”
I walk towards the door and before I leave, I ask, “I wonder when your aversion to dark wizards took place, Dumbledore? Was it after Severus Snape stopped being the potions professor? I hear he was a quite nasty with his curses. Goodbye Potters, goodbye kin slayer.” Before Dumbledore could even understand what I said, I had already left the office. A second later and I was out of the castle. Dumbledore really is fun to mess with.