Chapter 294: Chasing Shadows

Chapter 294: Chasing Shadows

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 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

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

---------------

3rd March 2013, Hogwarts

(Jasmine Sayre POV)

I turned and walked towards the entrance of the Room of Requirements, but I heard Hogwarts speaking to me one last time, "Are you sure you're alright, Mother? You just feel different."

I nodded, "I am quite fine, don't worry. A lot's happened in the last few years. I have changed. I've become something else, something more"

As I left the magical room, I heard a small whisper, "I just hope you haven't lost yourself along the way"

Choosing to ignore this sentence I prepare myself to teleport away, but a familiar voice with a Scottish accent came from behind me, "Young lady, did you miss the train back home? The school is closed for the moment. There was an announcement in the morning."

I turned around to see Minerva McGonagall's face which morphed slowly from anger to shock as she recognized my face. The elderly witch murmured to herself, "Impossible. Jasmine Potter?"

I really need to disguise myself in the future to avoid these kinds of situations.

Instead of panicking, I gave her a smirk and nodded, "Minerva McGonagall. I suppose it would be fitting to say that rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated."

I always wanted to say this sentence. However, the transfiguration mistress didn't seem to understand my reference, and spoke up, "I heard some rumors after that tasteless prank a few months ago, but I didn't believe them. How are you still alive?"

I just shrugged, "I never died in the first place. I fooled everyone, even Dumbledore and went back home, to America."

The current Headmistress of Hogwarts looked surprised at this, "I knew that you had some difficulties with James and Lily, but I didn't expect you to move halfway across the world just to get away from them."

"I didn't do it for them. I had a life there, which was interrupted by that silly tournament. I still have a life there. James and Lily Potter did not factor in my decision at all. I knew that my display was bound to get me noticed and I would have been forced to stay either to remain under Dumbledore's, Voldemort's, or even the Ministry's control. I just decided to get ahead and just get away when I could."

The transfiguration mistress nodded, understanding my decision. I will admit that I never really took the time to get to know McGonagall, in this universe or the one I was trapped in after my ill-fated duel with Entropy. The woman was without a doubt, a master in her art, or at least, as close as a regular mage could be. Transfiguration, when taught using wand magic, was very complicated in theory.

In the end, I shrugged and answered, "Albus Dumbledore was a flawed and self-righteous man who had a very large ego that he always tried to hide. But he wasn't evil, not in the way Tom Riddle was. He was scarred by a relatively different childhood and was riddled with guilt over his sister's death. He didn't want to hurt anyone at his core, but he mostly wanted people to live peacefully. In a way, that made him much more dangerous. He had an admirable dream, of world peace. It's hard to say no to that, but what made him slowly fall, was the sacrifices he had to make to achieve this goal, his 'Greater Good'. So, don't worry, he wasn't an evil man, just a very opinionated one that had no reservation to do horrible things to create a magical utopia in the long run."

By the time I was done, the transfiguration mistress had tears in her eyes. I didn't even lie, Dumbledore was all of that, but by the end of it, he was really toeing the line towards becoming evil.

Back to the massacre issue, I still wanted to know who was responsible, and who was able to alter fate this drastically. I didn't think that it was Entropy. He wouldn't involve himself in something this meaningless to him, and Rose wasn't powerful enough to make a difference in our inevitable final battle. Perhaps the Headmistress knew more about the massacre than she let on. After all, it was my main lead. The most probable cause of death was through the use of poison, which had been activated all around the world at the exact same time. It was probably not activated with a trigger, a magical signal like that would have been felt all around the globe. No, it was probably timed ahead of time.

I needed more data to make conclusions, "Professor McGonagall, I was wondering if you knew which poison was used in the massacre?"

The Headmistress' eyes widened slightly, "I don't believe that a poison was used at all, Ms. Potter."

"Please elaborate"

"From what I gathered, it seems like the bodies were turned into husks as if they were drained of all life. Their skin was shrivelled, and they looked as if they were bodies that died years ago. The victims were barely more than skin and bones by the end of it."

No, it couldn't be. I have seen this happen many times before, in the past. I needed to confirm it. It didn't make any sense. Why would it happen now, and on such a large scale?

"Are you sure about this?" I asked coldly.

"Yes, I heard that the Department of Mysteries is trying to figure it out. They got their hands on one of the bodies somehow. No one was able to make heads or tails out of it."

Alright, the Department of Mysteries had access to a body. I needed to see one to make sure before anything would happen.

I turned and teleported away to the DoM, ignoring the transfiguration mistress's questions. She must be scared out of her wits to see someone teleporting away from Hogwarts.

I walk past the magical maze that made up the department. It was night and there wasn't anyone there. I walked towards the room that was usually used to maintain bodies under stasis and looked for the newest one. It was a gentleman by the name of 'Jean Delacour'. He was probably related to the young woman I competed against in the tournament, but that didn't matter.

A single glance at the body told me that my fears were true. This man, probably a former member of the Court of Shadows, was drained entirely. He was barely more than skin and bones, but there was more to it. His entire life force was drained in seconds. And there is only one person I know who is capable of this, one person who has the knowledge to apply it to such a scale. Selene, my wife, had massacred the Court of Shadows.

---------------

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 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.