I would like to thank my beta, AvidReader2425, for his help in this chapter.
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20th of December 1994, Hogwarts
Hogwarts looks at a bit in fear and a bit in gratefulness. Then she shakes her head and frowns, "How are you still alive, and how co you didn't contact before? You knew I was alive, even back then you treated like a person, so why did you never co to see ?"
I gulp, this was gonna take a while and I hope she accepts my explanation.
"For you to understand, who I am, you must keep an open mind about who I am?" I start.
"I don't understand? You're my mother, Helga Hufflepuff. You founded Hogwarts, you created , gave life and purpose." She said, confused.
"I am Helga Hufflepuff but I am also so much more. I'm far older than I look, dear. Even when I created you, I was older than most civilizations on the planet."
"But how have you lived so long? The average magical human lives for at most two centuries."
"There are many ways to increase your lifespan, but I didn't die because I was part of a ti paradox. I didn't die because I couldn't die."
"I don't understand. Who are you, really?"
"I was born Jasmine Potter in 1980. About a decade later, I was accidentally sent back in ti. Thousands of years into the past. It was then that Jasmine Potter died and the Morrigan of Atlantis was born."
I neglected to say to her that I was the one that sent my younger self to the past. She's already having issues with ti travel; I couldn't let her handle ti continuity by herself. I guess no one researched ti magic when they were in Hogwarts. Chronomancy is a lost art. Though the departnt of mysteries is still researching ti sand which is used when creating ti turners. It was just so stone that was near a temporal anomaly for a few thousand years. So of the energy from the anomaly left an imprint on the stone, which is later ground up into ti sand. It was relatively harmless to be honest, if you ignore the pressure on the mind and magic of the user, there is no chance of a paradox existing because ti sand is not enough to override fate. The universe is powerful enough to manipulate the probabilities to avoid that.
"But why didn't you die in the past, mother?"
"I didn't die for the simple reason that I couldn't die. I was stuck in a loop, and I had to take the long way to co back to this ti. The loop must be closed, if it wasn't then the universe itself would unravel, killing ever living being inside. To prevent this from happening, the universe prevented from dying and restricted so of my actions."
"I still don't get it."
"Alright, let's look at this this way. In 1980, you existed, Helga Hufflepuff existed. Now imagine if I didn't travel back in ti, or that I traveled back and died after a normal human life. Then Helga Hufflepuff never would have existed and you wouldn't have existed. But before I traveled back in ti, I knew that you and Helga existed and that's what we call a paradox, and the universe doesn't like those. I couldn't die because I am unknowingly part of events. The world changes with every action we take. If I were to disappear, the world would be different than if I stayed here. So, I had to keep living until the loop is closed."
"But doesn't that an that you're going to die now?"
I chuckle and wandlessly conjure a knife in my hand and made a cut across my palm exposing the silver blood under my skin.
"After living for so long, I'm not technically human anymore. I may not be fully immortal anymore, but I will never grow old and die of old age. Soone would have to kill for to die and trust , there is very little chance of that happening; I am extrely resilient. But don't worry, even if I lost my immortality, I couldn't be happier. I am not constrained by the events of the past anymore. The chains of fate have no hold on . Never underestimate how precious free will is."
"So, tell about yourself. Do I know you from any history books?" my daughter asked eagerly.
I laugh at her childishness, I guess castles take so ti to mature. "Of course, dear. Well, like I told you I the Morrigan of Atlantis. That is my true na everything else is just personas. My most known persona I ever took wasn't actually Helga Hufflepuff, it was Morgan Le Fey."
"THE Morgan Le Fey. rlin's enemy? The evil witch that destroyed Calot?"
"Ha, not really. For so reason the history books confuse and Morgause. Myrddin was actually my forr apprentice. And while I hated Myrddin for what he's done and what he beca, I didn't intervene before he attacked first and tried to kill your sister and even then, I just fought Myrddin no one else."
"Wait a minute, I have a sister?"
"Yeah, she inside the caste now. She's a ghost called Mordred."
"Really, that's fascinating. I'll have to get to know her better. So, who else did you live as?"
"Well, there was Helga Hufflepuff, as you know. I was called dusa back in ancient Greece, Wadjet when I lived in Egypt a little before coming to Greece. Oh yeah, Isolt Sayre back in the 1600s when I founded Ilvemorny."
She looked at speechless. I think I might have broken her or sothing. Suddenly, she changed the topic. Undoubtedly, she needed ti to process what I had just shared with her.
"You lived for so long, t so many people. Why did you leave ? Was I not good enough?"
Her voice was small and I felt horrible that I made her feel this way. I needed to rectify this.
"No, honey. It's just that I rarely develop relationships as aningful as the ones I had with the other founders. And by rare, I an once every half a millennium rare. What people don't understand about living so long is the fact that other people don't live as long. They wither and they die and they leave. And it hurts so much. With everything going to shit as quickly as it did. I had to get away to deal with the grief. Still, even if I hadn't left, I would have later when fate gives another role in history.
But I didn't do it just for but also for you. You needed to learn, to observe, to live. I might have lit the spark but it was the students that gave you life. You needed to grow up and you couldn't do it with your mother always nearby. You needed to make mistakes and learn from them, that's what you do when you're alive. I did always check up on you when I heard news about Hogwarts. Every battle, every takeover, betrayal, I made sure you were well. I wasn't strong enough then to talk to you, I hadn't delt with my grief yet. I hadn't truly accepted who I am, what I am. And for that I am very very sorry."
With a wave of my hand, the glowing runes that represented Dumbledore's hold on the castle wards slowly changed.
"As an apology, I gave you back complete control over the usurper's wards. I pretty much switched places. He can only control them if you let them. You can even activate so of the old wards if you change the amount of magic absorbed by Dumbledore's wards. And don't worry about the old man, I have plans for him. Once he's gone, we'll remove the ward stones and restore the original wards."
She smiled at and we spent the entire night together, reminiscing and making up for lost ti. It was one of the best nights I had for a long ti.
15th of January 1995, Hogwarts
Today was the end of the winter holidays and the students ca back to the castle. Naturally, I chose that day to return to the castle as well. Rose was coming back and I missed mt baby sister. I greet her as I see her in the great hall and, as I expect it, I find myself called to the headmaster's office a few minutes later. Of course, I didn't go there before I finished my lunch; no need to expose myself to bullshit on an empty stomach.
Around an hour after my convocation, I walk up to the headmaster's office, the gargoyle moves out of the way without even speaking to it and I knock on the door. Of course, the three people I want to talk to the least are there. Jas and Lily Potter are standing up while Albus Dumbledore is sitting at his desk.
"You summoned ?" I asked monotony.
"Ah yes, my girl, you had disappeared from the castle. We were worried."
I stay silent and say nothing. It's a common interrogation tactic. By staying silent, I control the conversation. He should try to get to talk.
After a minute of silence, he gave up on answering him and said, "I was asked to inform you about the scores you got in the first task. You have received in total 45 points, with each judge giving you a perfect mark apart from Headmaster Karkaroff that gave you five points out of ten."
Again, I say nothing. It's not like I care about points for so stupid tournant. Jas and Lily still haven't said a word. Still in Dumbledore's pocket, I see.
He continues, "I have to say, Ms. Potter, that your performance during the first task was very impressive but I'm afraid I have never seen such magic before. Now, I consider myself quite knowledgeable in magic and it's quite rare for to be this stumped when I don't understand sothing. Where did you learn such magic?"
"My na is Evanshade and I didn't," I answer him.
"I don't quite get that. How could you not have learnt it?"
"I didn't learn it, I created it."
Every adult in the room was rendered speechless at my statent. They could not believe that a fourteen year old girl could invent sothing like that. They're right, of course, but they don't need to know that. From what I could glean from Dumbledore's mind, he wants to recruit to work as his apprentice / underling before the tournant is over.
Jas and Lily are just proud of . I really feel bad for them but they would always consider themselves my parents and I just don't need parents anymore and even then, they're very bad ones. They projected their grief onto Nathan and Rose, sothing that caused the children a lot of issues as they grew up. Jas and Lily Potter didn't truly survive Voldemort's attack. I rember them from before the attack and they are now a shell of their previous selves.
"If you are indeed the creator of such a wonderful technique, can you explain to us the principals involved."
"No."
"What do you an no?" Jas interrupted for the first ti.
"As the creator of this type of magic, I have added to the grimoire as branch of the Sayre family magic. I'm afraid that asking about it is quite the taboo in society. So, it is quite understandable that I choose not to share it with you." I answer.
I can fell Dumbledore gritting his teeth in anger, but he suddenly changed his expression back into the jovial old man. "Now, Ms. Potter, we need to speak about your absence during the Yule ball."
I stay silent once more. I can feel he's getting frustrated, now. This is fun.
"Care to explain yourself?"
"My na is Evanshade, I just chose not to co."
"I'm sorry, Ms. Evanshade, Champions are required to attend the Yule ball."
"No, they're not. When the goblet was first used, the tournant didn't have a Yule ball and since you have admitted that the goblet contract hasn't changed ever since the first tournant, it was not required for to attend. The contract is magically enforced and I can assure you, my magic is fine."
Of course, we both know that I wasn't really part of the tournant since I wasn't magically bound to compete. Dumbledore used the summoning function of the Goblet not the contract binding one. He had to agree with or he knew I would figure out I wasn't magically bound to stay in Hogwarts.
"Alright, I guess you caught . It's just a custom in the tournant and I have always valued traditions. Now, onto the most pressing matter. How were you able to enter and leave the castle without noticing? The wards are still powered, I checked. There was no breach. This is a security concern. If you could enter the castle, then other people could infiltrate and attack my students."
Yeah, like the death eater you hired as a professor, I thought sarcastically. I inwardly smile at the answer I just thought of.
"I asked the Nargles."
Dumbledore looks dumbstruck at my answer. He definitely didn't expect that. He seed to understand what the Nargles are. Who would have thought? Dumbledore is a Quibbler fan.
"If that's our conversation done, professor, I would like to take my leave." The man didn't even answer and I got up and left the office. Lily looked like she wanted to say sothing but refrained from doing so. I guess they planned to talk to about sothing. It was fun keeping soone who's used to be in control like Dumbledore on his toes. I guess this round goes to .
I spent the next month spending as much ti as possible with Nathan and Rose. Well, mostly Rose because of her lessons and I like her more. She has a lot less negativity. Before I noticed it was ti for the second task. I just hope that they won't needlessly endanger the hostages. Damn, ti flies when you're as old as .
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