Chapter 240: Selfdom

Chapter 240: Selfdom

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I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them.

I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.

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28th September 2012, New York City

(Natasha Romanoff POV)

Maybe she could convince Tony to hire him and Hill as intelligence managers for the Avengers when they start taking more missions? The billionaire genius might not like them very much, but he did respect them, and he would probably get a kick out of ordering them around as their boss.

Natasha didn't know what the future held, but if she learned one thing from this debacle, it was the fact that Jasmine Sayre was vicious, and that she would aim where it hurt the most, if someone annoyed her enough. She hoped that she would not be going against that woman anytime soon. As that would probably not end well for her or her team. Thankfully, the woman was still cordial with them for now and Natasha hoped that things would stay that way.

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4th October 2012, New York City

(Jasmine Sayre POV)

It was a few days after my confrontation with Fury and his lot, and I have to say, things couldn't have gone better. Truthfully, I was completely fine with letting SHIELD be and watching as it destroyed itself on its own, but damn, I really underestimated how damaging my actions were to the organization.

As for now, I was just sitting in the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, drinking some tea. This time, I chose a remote location entirely and just went to Scotland. I missed Hogwarts a bit, and during my time as a teacher in the other universe, it felt odd having the castle be so empty, so lifeless.

Don't get me wrong, the castle there was very magical, and had a limited intelligence to it, but it was mostly a magical effect caused by the constant output of children's magic during their stay there. It was more like an enchantment than an actual living being.

Considering that my Hogwarts, is my daughter, it was like watching a corpse being animated in front of me. I smiled as I could see the castle from the village. I hoped that she was doing well. I wanted to visit her, but it wasn't time to do so. I wanted to see what the castle could do, now that she was unbound and free to do as she wished.

Plus, a niggling part of me wondered if she would even recognize me. I was no longer a witch, by definition. I didn't absorb the energy absorbed by the Earth anymore, but the energy that makes up the universe. I was something different, something more, and I didn't want to meet her and see no recognition in her eyes, as she treated me like a stranger. It was better that I stayed away, for her sake and for mine.

I sat down in the pub and listened to the conversations around me. People were making jokes about Nathan's administration being practically led by Granger. The muggleborns who kept showing their support for the bitch, saying that she was the way for the future, and for equality. Some were clamoring for Rose to return and take over for her brother.

What surprised me the most were the talks of a bill banning the ownerships of House Elves entirely, which was completely ridiculous. They pretended to do it to show support to the small creatures, but that was obviously a ploy to get rid of one of the main advantages of the magical nobility, that used the elves in all sorts of unpaid manual labor. Instead, to keep their businesses open, they would need to hire wizards and witches, which was a lot more expensive, considering that they would have to pay salaries and so on, which means that all prices would very likely go up in magical Britain, should that happen.

And worst of all, the elves would die off without masters to support their magic. Elves were incompatible to the land's magic and needed a buffer to use it without withering and dying, which came at the form of their masters. It was why elves feared being free and would serve with a lot of enthusiasm.

Honestly, the history of the house elves is a sad one. It all started with a few light elves from Alfheim being banished to Earth. Their magic was just incompatible to Earth's, so they slowly withered and died. However, they still had descendants, who had descendants. The population grew exponentially, since the lifetime of a single elf without any magic was barely more than two years at most. Add in the fact that with the constant inbreeding, they lost their beautiful appearance and slowly started to resemble the house elves we see today. The mages of the time became aware of the creatures that slowly became an infestation and decided against slaughtering them all by finding a way to stabilize their magic by bonding to a wizard. The elves stopped having so many children, and they decided to fanatically serve the wizarding families to repay that debt.

Granger's little bill would be akin to a genocide that would kill every house elf on the planet just for political gain. It was a magical crisis in a way, and it would serve as a test for Rose. She'll have to deal with things like this all the time when she comes into her role as the next Queen of Avalon fully and I will admit to being a little miffed with her for forcing me to explain things to her parents to accept the position, knowing that I was desperate about filling it. The crisis was coming, and I needed to make sure that the world wouldn't be fully dependent on me anymore, in case something happens.

Suddenly, I felt a very powerful influx of cosmic energy come near and slowly walk towards the door. That didn't bode well at all. In the end, the moment that the source of the cosmic energy entered the pub, I recognized it. It was an elderly man with a white beard. He looked around until meeting my eyes, smiled at me, and walked towards my table.

I wasn't fooled by his appearance. I could tell that it was just a shell that contained a fragment of his power. I watched as the man arrived in front of me and asked, "Hello, is this seat taken? I believe we have a lot to talk about."

It seems that Ego has arrived on Earth.