HBWnovel Chapter 51: Severing Ties
Chapter 51: Severing Ties
Chapter 51: Severing Ties
I would like to thank my beta, AvidReader2425, for his help in this chapter.
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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 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.