Chapter 261: Roses and Violets

Chapter 261: Roses and Violets

If you want to support me check out my patron at /athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 15 chapters ahead as a bonus.

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

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9th February 2013, Sayre Manor

(Jasmine Sayre POV)

I ended up sending Rose to deal with the court months ago, as a small test. I will admit that the situation was very complicated and required a delicate touch, but it didn't seem to be working at all, considering that I lost contact in the American branch of the court for some reason.

In contrast, Wanda and Jean were doing very well under Emma Frost's leadership in Genosha, so I could afford to focus on the wizarding world for a bit since Rose seemed out of her depth. Thor could use some time off training for a few days until I deal with this mess.

I nodded to Selene, "You have a point. I'll go check out on how Rose is doing and decide how to proceed with this."

It was later in the afternoon that I decided to teleport back to Britain to see Rose's progress on the situation at hand. I tracked her down to Diagon Alley, in a small restaurant, eating by herself. Well, not exactly. She wasn't by herself; there were over ten mages observing her carefully, probably agents of the Court of Shadows.

The moment I took a look at her, I was immediately concerned. She looked tired, exhausted even. How could that have happened? I was sure that in a mission like this, Rose would thrive and not be intimidated by the daunting task. Even now, she looked like she hasn't had a good night sleep in a week. She looked thinner, like she hasn't been taking care of herself properly. I need to know what happened, what caused all this change.

Worried, I slowly morph my features to resemble that of a brunette with black eyes, and slowly walk towards my sister and speak to her, "Do you mind if I join you?"

At first, I could see the confusion in her eyes; she hadn't recognized me under the disguise, so I send her a small telepathic message to elaborate on my identity.

Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second before nodding, offering me the chair in front of them. I wave my hand and create a privacy bubble, stopping our observers from eavesdropping on our conversation. We looked at each other for a minute before Rose broke the silence, "So, why the disguise?"

I give her an incredulous look, "You do realize that you're being watched by at least a dozen people, right? Plus, ever since the Court revealed my survival and that the Daily Prophet published that blasted article, everyone's been looking for a sign of me."

Still, I could find a way to turn this into a teaching moment, "Look at me, Rose. I know you're disappointed in yourself, and that's perfectly understandable because everyone makes mistakes, even me. I have made more errors than anyone alive on this planet, but I have learnt a lesson from every single one of my failures, and you should too. No one is perfect and I don't expect you to be the first. Learn from this, so that you wouldn't repeat it in the future. You learn more from failure than from success. So, tell me, what did you learn from this?"

She looked pensive for a moment before answering, "I shouldn't be impulsive and think things through before I do them"

I nodded at her, "Yes, going straight to Nathan, was foolish and reckless. You needed to assess the situation first, observe him and his relationships, and then watch them in turn. Find out their loyalties, and only then decide if he's trustworthy enough to ask for help. Additionally, you didn't even take into account your brother's meekness. He hasn't been decisive ever since my supposed sacrifice, and Voldemort's demise. He found himself with no mentor, no enemies, and with a dead twin. He had no idea what to do, so he let Granger lead him around, something that she keeps doing to this day. You should have expected that he would ask his friend to take care of things for him and listen to her suggestions in the first place. Now, tell me, what else have you learnt?"

She sounded hesitant this time, "I shouldn't have hoped to destroy them with the media?"

"Not exactly. The media, the public opinion, is a powerful weapon, but can only be used by people who are affected by it in the first place. Targeting the richest and the most powerful with accusations would have either done nothing or it would have cause riots. Some things, young Rose, are better dealt with using discretion, not open warfare."

Oh, how true that is. I have, in the course of my long life, gotten rid of most of my enemies without anyone even realizing it. I tried to do my best to avoid causing too much chaos. Believe it or not, the idea of a super secret manipulative organizations is not a new one. There had been hundreds of Hydras, thousands of Courts of Shadows, over the centuries, and the most common thing they had is that they wished for power without being in the spotlight, and that made it easier to get rid of them without creating too much of a fuss. In the end, they were created in the shadows, and they died in the shadows, forgotten to the annals of history. Even, I barely even remember most of them.

Rose nodded, "So, what now?"

"Now, dear sister, it's time for me to take the reins, so to speak. Since we don't have the element of surprise, and that unmasking them would cause more problems than it would solve, the best way to deal with them is to be direct. It seems that they wanted my attention. Well, now, they have it. Let's see how they deal with it, shall we."

I took another look at my sister and almost winced, "We'll start tomorrow, but as for now, you will go take a night's rest while I try to figure out when the next meeting of the Court of Shadows will take place. And eat properly, I don't like how thin you're getting."

Rose nodded with a slight smile on her face and teleported away, probably to wherever she was staying at. I paid the bill for Rose's meal and decided to walk around Diagon Alley for a bit before I start getting to work. As I ventured into the alley, I noticed that some of Rose's followers diverged and were now looking at me.

Well, who am I to refuse when my enemy gives me such a boon for my search. This should prove to be interesting at the very least.

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I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 15 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.