Chapter 58: Chapter 58Summary:And the new school year begins...
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 58
The rest of the ride to Hogwarts was filled with idle chatter. Remus and Lily were asking as many questions as they could about the book Jasmine was planning on publishing, and then bringing it in front of the Wizengamot. Just thinking about it made Jasmine both excited and nervous enough to make her a bit nauseous. Remus and Lily seemed to be completely oblivious to her discomfort, which she supposed was a good thing. It at least meant that her poker face wasn't complete shit.
Sirius had dozed off on her shoulder, bored out of his mind and no doubt wanting to avoid any and all questions about his potential suitors. Jasmine figured her friend hadn't realized what kind of chaos he would be unleashing by letting it drop to both Lily and Remus that she was publishing something very controversial. The two bookworms were still chatting about publication rights when he started drooling.
They had been asking Jasmine questions for over an hour. Even James had started losing interest in Lily's questions and was snoring quietly against the window, his gold rimmed glasses askew on his face. He was going to need to get them repaired again if he wasn't careful. Euphemia was going to throw a fit. His lenses were magically enhanced to adjust to his eyes, but in doing that the frames couldn't be repaired with magic, they had to be done the muggle way otherwise the lenses would become distorted. Even in Harriet's time there hadn't been too many different ways to adjust eyesight, unless it was with a potion that Severus would invent in about five years, if the timeline was still heading in that direction.
Though, as of right now, there wasn't anything James could do but be careful and he was a sixteen-year-old boy, so that wasn't likely. "Lily, could you pluck James' glasses off? I don't want to deal with him whining about how the frames are pinching his nose for the next month." Her redheaded friend flushed at the question, but nodded, summoning all of her Gryffindor bravery, she approached James and slid his glasses off without him waking up. Her cousin adjusted himself slightly with the loss of his glasses, but he seemed far more comfortable now that the metal wasn't digging into his face.
Lily handed the spectacles to Jasmine, who adjusted Sirius on her shoulder before giving Lily a grateful smile.
Her eyes trailed back towards Sirius' peaceful sleeping face.
"So, Black is getting married?"
Jasmine let out a sigh and ran a hand through her hair, making sure that she didn't jostle Sirius at all. He seemed exhausted when they had boarded the train. The arranged marriage must have been keeping him up for the past few nights, or just reading through the list of potential suitors that his family had for him. It no doubt had to have been very long and overwhelming. "Evidently, his father created a list of acceptable witches he can court to be the potential Lady Black."
Lily wrinkled her nose and fidgeted with her skirts, something Jasmine noted that she did when she was confronted with something odd in the wizarding world that she didn't quite agree with. "I just find it appalling that they are still forcing their children to go through with arranged marriages. It just seems to backwards."
Jasmine let out a small and rather sad laugh, "the wizarding world can be rather advanced in certain aspects, but when it comes to matters of love, not so much. Marriage is used to produce heirs and to politically profit both families involved. If you can manage to fall in love, you're very lucky. There are a few pureblood families that allow for love matches. James is one of the lucky few that are allowed a love match over an arranged marriage. The Potter family believes that their heirs should be happy with the partners they choose"
Remus leaned back into the seat and pinched the bridge of his nose, drawing Lily's attention away from Jasmine. "Pureblood culture towards marriage in general is extremely toxic. My father was nearly disowned for marrying my Muggleborn mother. She didn't bring anything to the family politically, but her charms skills were nearly unmatched during her time in school, so she had a promising profession. He was very lucky to be allowed to marry her. It's why Alice is always struggling to get Augusta Longbottom's approval. Without her approval, they won't be allowed to court. It doesn't matter how much Frank cares for her. Alice comes from a powerful grey family, so it's likely that his mother will eventually relent, but Augusta is stubborn, if nothing else."
A dark frown etched itself onto Lily's face. "That's stupid. Doing that doesn't help anyone."
Jasmine shrugged, twirling a piece of hair between two fingers. "It really is, but it's the way it works. I'm hoping that eventually it will go out of fashion. It slowly is, but purebloods don't like change."
Lily's gaze traveled to Sirius, who was snoring softly against Jasmine's arm.
"And, yet he's cuddling up to you like he isn't going to be engaged to another woman within the next couple years?"
Jasmine looked to her right where Sirius' curly hair was visible in her peripheral vision, his cheek on her shoulder. His lips were parted slightly, light puffs coming out at an even pace and a bit of drool was oozing out of his mouth.
Though, having Lily judging her relationship with Sirius was a little bit insulting. "You're starting to sound like Marlene, Lily," Jasmine replied, a pout forming. Sirius was her friend, he was a touchy guy. She wasn't going to shove him off when this was how he showed his affection.
Remus scowled at the accusation, drumming his fingers on a book he had closed as the conversation focused back on Sirius. "Lily, Sirius enjoys physical contact. He's always all over everyone and it isn't in a sexual way…usually. Life at home has never been easy for him and it isn't right for you assume he's trying to worm his way into Jasmine's good graces so he can shag her later."
Jasmine didn't mind Sirius cuddling and demanding attention. His needs and wants were ignored enough at home and he deserved some kind of happiness with other people. He was a very physical person and it wasn't always a bad thing or unwanted.
"He just always seems to go to Jasmine."
Well, she tended to understand where he was coming from. James was a pureblood from a light family. They had completely different rules about lifestyle choices. Jasmine had lived with a grey family and then was kidnapped by a dark family. She understood quite a few of the expectations that were put on Sirius and he knew that. He also knew how to piss people off and cuddling up with a grey witch was one of them.
"I'm told I'm a great pillow."
Remus let out a small chuckle. "I've been told under good authority to say that's a lie. You're super bony. The best pillows have some give to them," he teased, wiggling his fingers at her.
She stuck her tongue out at him, in the most mature manner possible. "Well, I'm so sorry for being in shape and covered in muscle from years of training. I don't see your pillowy arms either, Remus."
Remus put a hand over his heart, clearly insulted. Lily rolled her eyes and pulled out a book, she held no interest in where this conversation was headed. "Merlin, why did I even come over to this compartment. You lot never take anything seriously."
Jasmine let out a sigh, "It isn't that we don't want to answer you, Lily. Sirius and I are friends. We understand each other when it comes to magical family nonsense and heirship expectations. They're different from what Monty and Euphemia expect from James. Sirius has a hell of a lot more responsibility thrown on his shoulders as the heir to the Black family. I'm someone he can vent to and get an understanding response from."
"What does that have to do with him constantly lying all over you or flirting with you constantly?"
Remus held up a hand, "To be fair, Padfoot flirts with everyone. He cuddles up to his friends, a lot. Jasmine is just nice enough not to throw him on his ass half as much as James and I do."
At least Remus was on her side. As much as Jasmine loved Lily's inquisitive brain, sometimes it got to be a bit much.
So, Jasmine decided to turn the conversation towards her friend. "So, when are you going to ask my cousin out? All those coy looks are driving him mad and the blushing doesn't help."
Lily spluttered and flushed a bright red, matching her hair, just proving Jasmine's point further. "I don't know what you're talking about!" She squeaked, hiding her face in her hands, her hair covering her like a curtain. She peaked an eye out a moment later. "Am I that obvious."
Remus and Jasmine shared dry, very tired look, "Yes."
~*~
The feast started up with as much chaos and fanfare as it always did when the Marauders were involved. The house elves must really love them to help them pull this off. Jasmine was going to need to ask James how they managed it. Lily was even laughing at the hilarity of the forks doing the cancan followed by Dumbledore's beard flashing different colors every time he opened his mouth.
The new first years were beside themselves, all nervousness forgotten for the time being, which was what these pranks should have always been about. The Marauders were so clever, and James' father was a potions master. They could really market themselves post Hogwarts. They could compete with Zonko's and be the pranking empire that the Weasley twins manage twenty years in the future.
The three of them were mad geniuses, Jasmine just hoped that they would get to live to see their full protentional. She was going to make sure of it this time around, even if she died trying.
Besides the Marauders special brand of madness, there was another elephant in the room that had taken the form of an empty chair at the Head Table. No one had claimed the Defense Against the Dark Arts seat. Lily had been worriedly staring at it throughout the silverware's dance number. It would be a hassle for students to self-teach or deal with a never-ending revolving door of proctors for DADA, especially the upper year students.
Jasmine was more worried for her friends than she was herself. She had covered enough defense spells to cover nine lifetimes…and then some. Not to mention that her original host new more offensive spells than most middle-aged wizards.
Dumbledore seemed to notice the agitated student body and stood to address the masses. With a single clap of his hands the room quieted to a near whisper as his beard flashed a bright purple to clash with his sky-blue robes.
Sirius snickered into his fist, which had been brought up to his mouth during a rather risqué section of the silverware's tango.
"Now, we have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor joining us this year," that was new and exciting news, as long as it wasn't some Ministry puppet. Jasmine had her fingers crossed hoping that it wasn't Umbridge. She wanted one lifetime where that witch wasn't a part of her school career. "He is a successful Auror that some of you have no doubt heard of, Alastor Moody."
The Great Hall doors slammed open in an overly dramatic display as Alastor swaggered into the room, and this was before the peg-leg, so it was an honest man's strut. Moody was by no means an overly handsome man, but he was far more attractive with all of his body parts still attached. Though the smirk on his face was a fair turn off for Jasmine. Moody was in his prime right now, somewhere in his thirties, and making a name for himself. She wasn't in the mood for dealing with a cocky professor who thought he was the best thing out there. Amelia was the top agent in the DMLE at the moment.
Jasmine drummed her fingers on the table with her left hand, her head resting in her right. She wondered if he would be any good at teaching. She knew that a Death Eater could impersonate him and be a good teacher, but she had never actually had the real Mad Eye. And, if Jasmine was being honest with herself, he wasn't quite Mad Eye yet. The war hadn't changed him into a paranoid nutcase. At least things were significantly more interesting than they were a moment before, the entire student body was whispering amongst themselves.
Lily had actually sagged with relief seeing a qualified teacher taking their seat at the table.
Jasmine had thought that they weren't going to have a DADA teacher this year, the bloody position was jinxed after all. But why was Moody here? This wasn't too long before dark wizard hunts would begin, and he'd be in his element. Dumbledore was making a fuss about him, but it wasn't every day that the school got an actual Auror as a teacher. Right now, he was just a man in his early thirties, doing good Auror work…and a little teaching on the side? Jasmine wasn't sure if he ever actually taught during her parent's time, she felt that Sirius and Remus would have mentioned that in the nine lives she had lived with them.
James was grinning ear to ear as Moody took his seat at the head table. "He is such a bad ass. Mum talks about him sometimes. He has a really impressive record for catching criminals."
Sirius had small frown on his face as he watched Moody take his seat at the table to a round of applause. "You mean he catches Dark Wizards of all kinds. My father talks about him quite a bit as well. Thinks he's problematic since not all dark magic is bad, but he arrests "dark wizards" all the time for crimes that aren't necessarily breaking the law."
Remus bit his lip nearly hard enough to draw blood. Remus was considered a dark creature and a dark wizard. Honestly, there were circles amongst wizarding society that would claim that Remus' entire existence was a crime and he should be put down. Jasmine put a hand on his knee and gave it a gentle squeeze as he spoke. "Prongs, what kind of wizards does he go after?"
"Mum says criminals that specialize in worst section of the dark arts. He stops human sacrifices and mass murders." Honestly, Moody wouldn't be able to act without orders from the DMLE, so if he is catching dark wizards, it would be on Euphemia and the Minister's orders.
As food appeared on the table Jasmine leaded forward, butting into their conversation. "So, he stops criminals that are using black magic. James, there is a difference between dark magic and black magic. The forbidden is black magic, most dark witches and wizards know when they are crossing the threshold into true evil and corrupted magic. It is the same when a light wizard realizes that their magic has become solely light to the point they attempt to heal the world with whatever means necessary. Which, at first sounds great, until you realize that any means necessary is just as dangerous for a light wizard as it is a dark wizard."
Sirius pointed a fork at her, grey eyes calculating. He was every inch the heir was trained to be in this moment. "Which is where your family's legacy comes in."
Alastor seemed like he was getting ready for a speech, but Jasmine gave Sirius one last wink before the Auror captivated the room.
"It has been quite a while since I walked the halls of Hogwarts. Though much has changed outside the walls. We are once again getting ready to wage a war. There is a new Dark Lord rising. You've all heard the rumors. I've come to help you learn how to defend yourself against those that wish you harm. The DMLE have positioned me here to make sure you have the best chance at fighting back against your enemies."
Jasmine fought the urge to roll her eyes. Sirius didn't even attempt to hide it as he scoffed into his chicken. James sighed pushing a bit of food around on his plate and Remus was squirming on the bench. Dark wizards and dark creatures were what caused nightmares for most magical children and Moody was attempting to use that to push his status as a savior up a few pegs. Jasmine wondered what got his head on straight within the next few years…
The DMLE might have allowed him to teach at Hogwarts, but it wasn't a placement of honor. Jasmine wouldn't be surprised if Euphemia placed him here because he was reckless and needed to be put in check for a little bit. He was also on his way to being one of the key members of the Order of the Phoenix. Dumbledore was going to profit from having him so close.
The feast started without much further prompting. Students quickly filled the hall with idle chatter and a few stray pieces of silverware were still dancing around the room. "Our new professor is staring at you, Jasmine," Lily whispered, but Jasmine already knew that, or at least she figured he was watching her, that or he was staring at Sirius. They were the only two, very proud and unafraid grey and dark magical heirs in Gryffindor at the moment.
"Let him. Merlin only knows what Dumbledore has told him about me."
Hopefully, Moody would be better than his Brightbark. It was really hard to be worse than Brightbark, but if Dumbledore poisoned Moody's opinions of her before their first class, it could be an uphill battle all year.
Notes:School is kicking my butt.
Writing a masters thesis is no joke.
Leave your comments and kudos below!
You guys are amazing.
~Sugar Phantom
Chapter 59: Chapter 59Summary:School begins again...
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 59
As always, the year started with little fanfare. Jasmine crawled out of bed and got ready for her morning run two hours before her dormmates woke up. She came back, took a shower, and made it to breakfast just as the Marauders were blearily sitting down.
Sirius had grabbed at least three pieces of bacon too many off of a plate as James snatched some toast from dish next to Remus' arm. Jasmine wrinkled her nose in disgust as Sirius shoveled them into his mouth. "Attractive," she drawled as she spooned some porridge into a small bowl and topped it with some fruits and nuts.
Remus smacked him over the head with his morning paper, nearly causing him to choke. "We keep trying to train him to eat like a civilized mutt, but it seems that you can't teach an old dog new tricks."
James snorted into his morning tea at the jibe, droplets splashed across the table and he swore when some dripped onto his fingers.
It wasn't long until McGonagall was handing out schedules. Jasmine was taking all the classes necessary for a future runes-mistress and then the standard curriculum. James was taking all the classes necessary for an Auror, Sirius had started taking more magical mathematics and dark arts based classes that his father strongly suggested, and Remus was taking classes geared towards teaching. Most of those classes were the core classes with a few in electives peppered in. For the most part, they would all be in classes with each other. There was never a moment when one person was going to be alone for any given class.
Sirius groaned into the table as he lightly thunked his head against the wood. "I understand why I need to use math in the future, but Merlin, I don't want to take this class."
Remus and Jasmine gave him light pats on the back. "Hey, you aren't that bad at mathematics. Remus and I can help you if you start to struggle. You got high marks on your OWLs."
"But that was after hours and hours of revisions that you two helped me with. You have the potential internship, what if you're too busy to help," he whined dramatically, but then jumped with a yelp as James poured some cold water over his head.
James had a grin spread from ear to ear as Sirius shook his hair out, splashing everyone nearby. Jasmine received the brunt of it. Sirius cast a drying spell to make sure every curl was back in place before he sat back down grumbling. "Stop throwing yourself a pity party, Pads. It is unbecoming. Speaking of lists, where is that list of protentional suitors?"
Sirius' face slowly heated as he pulled out three pieces of parchment. He shoved them in their general direction and turned away.
Jasmine snatched one off the table and flipped it open. Her eyes quickly scanned the contents and she understood why he was nervous. "These women are very high class and very foreign. It will be interesting to look into them and see which one would match your personality the best," Jasmine mused, tapping her nose in thought, "not to mention which ones you probably wouldn't manage to insult by just being you."
Remus coughed, attempting to hide a laugh at the comment. Sirius glared from across the table, but didn't say anything to the contrary.
"Your father has interesting taste. None of these girls were born in the United Kingdom. Speaking the same language for basic communication is going to be difficult," Remus added as he mouthed some of the harder to pronounce names.
"Translation spells are always an option until they properly learn their partner's language. There have been a few Potters that had to do that in the past. It isn't ideal, but it gets the job done," James commented, biting his lip at the end. "Just for reference, Pads, what languages do you speak again?"
"You mean besides English, which he still hasn't quite mastered?" Remus teased with wiggle of his fingers, and Sirius looked like he was going to lunge across the table at him. James grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and Jasmine snapped her fingers, helping him regain his focus, if only for a moment.
"I speak French, Italian, a bit of Spanish, Latin…obviously, a smattering of Russian and a dab of German."
Jasmine scowled at the last. "You could speak German all this time and didn't say anything?"
Sirius rolled his eyes, "I know a lot of dirty words in German that I would never be able to say in the polite company of a woman. I felt it best that I didn't introduce myself to you…but if you want…" he waggled his eyebrows at her and she stuck her tongue out at him.
James shoved Sirius, nearly knocking him off the bench, "As much as I love it when you threaten my cousin's virtue, let's focus on this. There are a few French witches that might work. My family knows two of the twelve women listed. Jaqueline Aubin and Madeline Chasse are nice girls. They're both older than us by about a year-"
Sirius waved his hand dismissively, "Aubin was a last-minute addition by my father, she is from a light family, but they are grey leaning. She would be a last resort for this list."
"So, then cross her off. There aren't any Austrian or German witches that I recognize from this list and I knew a fair few. I do recognize one of the Russian girls, actually, two of them. They were on the dueling circuit with me for a couple months before the Death Eater raid. Both of them were rather vicious. I wouldn't suggest either of them, if you could help it."
The boys were silent for a moment, as they always were when Jasmine mentioned anything about her past. "How did those two even get on this list?" James hissed towards Sirius, who had his hands up in peaceful gesture, confusion written clear on his face.
Remus was giving her worried glances, but refusing to make eye contact. Jasmine let out a sigh, "Honestly, it's alright. The girls had only been missing for about three weeks before they were brought back home. I wouldn't be surprised if only a handful of people even knew they had been kidnapped in the first place. Quite a few families keep it quiet until they found out that the Patrons weren't going to give their children back or they had been killed in battle. Though, if your father is interested in them, those girls would have been sold back to their families. They were probably being held there for ransom more than anything else. They barely dueled," Though Jasmine remembered the few times they did and shuddered, rubbing her left arm, where a long thin barely visible scar ran from the base of her elbow to the inside of her wrist where one of them had tried to carve her arm open and cut through her muscles and tendons, "they really went maximum damage when they really didn't need to."
"Well, they are one-hundred percent off the list," James replied, crossing their names off with extreme prejudice.
Remus reach across the table to stop her wandering hand. He caught James' eye and nodded before looking back to Jasmine "You alright?"
She let out a shuddering breath, and tried to remove the image her very visible radius as Katia shredded her arm apart with magic. "Yea, I'll be alright. I just remembered something rather unpleasant. What about the girl form Japan? She's the only on this list from Asia, do you want us to cross her off or look into her, Danuja, who is a direct decent of the Fujiwara clan? She sounds important…"
Sirius bit his lip for a moment, pulling lightly at a stray curl of his usually perfectly styled hair. "No, she seems like someone my father would kill me for not speaking to. This is as much a marriage arrangement as it is me getting to know my peers around the world."
"How awful, you need to mingle with the purebloods families around the world that your father is acquaintances with." James replied with a grin.
Jasmine let out a rather undignified snort and pointed her quill at her cousin. "Like Monty and Euphemia aren't going to start similar things with you soon, James."
He groaned, as McGonagall dropped a quidditch schedule on top of his messy head, much to the amusement over the entire table.
~*~
Classes started without fuss and none of the teachers seemed like they were out to kill her this year, surprisingly. Sixth year was stressful, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the year before, or, no doubt, how bad the following year was going to be. The workload to come was daunting and Jasmine could tell that Lily was already mentally preparing for it now.
Though, in most of her classes this year, they were going to be focusing on nonverbal magic and that was going to be an adventure. Jasmine wondered if this was going to be first roadblock for the Marauders in practical magic application. They hadn't really had any issues with spellcasting, at all.
It was honestly horrifically frustrating. Jasmine had nine lives of practice to help her with nonverbal and wandless spellcasting. These three goofballs have luck and a lot of raw talent and it made Jasmine want to bash her head against a wall when they couldn't figure out what was taking their classmates so long to learn a spell.
They were going over theoretical applications of nonverbal magic in charms and transfiguration, but they hadn't moved to practical spellcasting quite yet. It was only the first week after all and Jasmine had a feeling that McGonagall and Flitwick didn't want to deal with meltdowns and teen frustration over not being able to get the spells correct for the first entire week of classes.
Speaking of classes, it was nice to have smaller class sizes. Everyone had started to specialize for the carrier paths that they had chosen last year. Jasmine wanted to go into ward crafting, but ward crafters tended to go into hot zones for fighting during wars, so they needed defense, charms, transfigurations and potions along with a few other elective classes. She got to see at least one friend in each class. DADA having the most. Ancient Runes being the least. Only Lily was in that class with her and her poor redheaded friend was in way over her head at this point.
It wasn't until their first DADA class that they were going to test their silent magic capabilities. Moody had changed the classroom to look like something out of an Auror academy dueling room. Their desks were moved to the far side of the room in front of a large board with prewritten notes. There was an assignment already posted at the end of the notes, a four-foot-long parchment on nonverbal dueling theory for all those that don't manage to hit a target with a stunner by the end of the session today.
Oh, this was going to be a bloodbath.
There were only seventeen students, six Gryffindors, four Slytherins, four Ravenclaws and three Hufflepuffs.
"You all better hurry you don't have too much time to waste. Who wants to attempt to stun the dummy without speaking first?"
There were dummies lining the walls and chalk lines drawn on the ground a few meters from each. Jasmine could sense different charms that had been added to the chalk lines, she didn't know the specifics, but she'd wager they would move backwards and forwards depending on how well you could hit the target.
It didn't seem like anyone wanted to start and look like a fool. Jasmine just didn't want to be the example. She had a lot of experience in silent spell work in this body. It was an unfair, but very helpful side effect of being forced to duel for your life. Moody tapped his foot impatiently. Jasmine let out a sigh and took a step forward towards the dummy and the Marauders cheered her on as she moved closer to the chalk line.
Moody was eyeing her as she approached. She rolled her sleeves up and pulled out her wand. She gave it a few curtesy waves, and with a quick flick of the wrist a stunner flew out of her wand and stunned the dummy. The straw monstrosity skidded back a bit and she fluttered her wand and gave a mock bow to her audience.
"And, that class, is how you cast without a word. It's great in times of war, your enemies won't know you're there until you're on top of them. Ms. Peverell's form was flawless and the spell had just the right amount of power behind it. Try to emulate that."
Great, the class was going to have to emulateher. Ugh, Marlene was going to have a field day with that.
If Dumbledore had told Moody to hate her, it didn't seem like the lesson had stuck, then again, Moody had always liked capable people in the future. Hopefully, she wasn't going to make an enemy out of him.
Moody gave a small clap and motioned for everyone else to try and follow suit. Jasmine leaned against the wall and watched as her friends attempted to cast nonverbally. Magic, as always, was about the intent and they just weren't quite to that point yet where that lesson clicked with them. For some, it really never does, and it would be sad to find out if any of the Marauders were unable to cast nonverbal spells.
Moody was going from student to student and attempting to help them cast nonverbally. He gave pointers when he felt that they needed them and encouragement to others. Lily was going to need a pep talk after the lesson. Jasmine was sure of that. Her roommate was wringing her robe between her fingers and biting her lip. She was far too nervous and that was going to stop her from casting properly.
Mad Eye was next to her, showing her the ropes, he was good at his job, but this was going to be the first of many classes where there would be little progress. Every witch and wizard would go through that single moment of magical clarity on how it feels to have your magic react without a verbal catalyst. Eventually, wandless magic would follow suit, though how far one can go with wandless magic depended mostly on the power levels of the individual.
Sirius and James were struggling, but Jasmine felt they would more than likely be the first in the class to get it and more than likely seconds apart from each other, because they just about share a single braincell between them.
Though the two were waving and shaking their wands in frustration and grumbling with the rest of the class as they attempted to replicate the spell work. Remus was bent over his textbook, muttering under his breath as he glared at his wand.
The Professor approached her on the left, her blindside, clever man. Always looking for some kind of advantage against his enemies and friends alike. Moody was taller than Jasmine remembered him being in her past lives, but then again, he had been chopped up a bit and had a peg leg in the future. Not to mention he hadn't put on his retirement weight quite yet either and Jasmine was also quite a few centimeters shorter that Harriet's lankier form.
"So, lass, Dumbledore told me quite a bit about you," he began, his voice low enough that it wouldn't disturb the grumbling students around them, but just loud enough to draw Jasmine's attention away from her friends.
"What did Headmaster Dumbledore have to say about me? I didn't realize that we were close." Jasmine replied as Sirius snarled as he failed again.
Moody grinned, showing off a dimple she didn't know he had. "Claimed you were dangerous and very powerful. I had my doubts, but you have advanced control of your magic and that is more impressive to me than worrying. Euphemia speaks very highly of you. She's been my boss for years. I like to think that she has exceptional taste in picking out only the best witches and wizards."
Jasmine liked to think the same thing. Her guardian handpicked some of the best Aurors and general magical law enforcement agents the Ministry was going to see over the next twenty years.
"I'm glad that I haven't disappointed you and have lived up to my guardian's expectations. Magic is all about the intent, after all and I have a very clear vision of what I want my magic to do."
"That, lass, is why you are going to be going far in this class and why all your classmates are probably going to hate you until they find their magic's purpose."
Jasmine watched Remus shoved James into Sirius using a nonverbal and not very powerful blasting hex, before a small tussle broke out between the three of them. The remaining two Marauders launched at Moony and demanded he tell his secrets. Lily and Severus were watching mildly horrified, bust mostly just amused. The class needed this short break before getting back to their nonverbal casting. They were only going to be doing this in all of their classes over the course of the entire year.
She had a purpose in this timeline, more so than in her other lives. While it was important to save the future families of the wizarding world from extinction, here she had people that were counting on her to save them from something she could prevent.
And she was going to make sure that the Marauders had a lifetime to shove each other around and Lily could laugh and enjoy magic for what it was. Jasmine was going to make sure that Severus got to have some kind of childhood and get to work in famous labs across the world, not be stuck in a school for the rest of his miserable life.
Notes:Thesis 1 of 2 is finished.
Now I just need to finish the rest of my work for the semester. :')
Leave a comment and kudo below.
~SugarPhantom
Chapter 60: Chapter 60Summary:We meet the wardmaster!
Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextChapter 60
Seven and a half weeks passed in a blur of spellcasting, dozens of feet worth of parchment and multiple letters to her editor as Jasmine finalized her father's research. Honestly, subtly pushing the Lovegood family into publishing rather than journalism was one of her more ingenious ideas. The company was still called the Quibbler, but instead of writing about odd magical creatures and hoping that people read about them, they were planning on publishing books and research papers on abstract magical research. And, magical book production takes a lot less time than muggle book bindings. Magic worked faster than a factory. She only needed a week's notice with final copy for it to come out on time. She had two months before it would officially hit the shelves.
Jasmine was using her money and influence to have the Lovegood business hit the ground running. It also helped that she had the Malfoy family grudgingly backing her, as well as the Blacks. Orion had sent her a strongly worded letter after Cassiopeia had read through the research. With those two dark families, and then the Potter family, behind her, she wasn't going to have too much opposition in getting it pushed to the forefront of a lot of stores and papers. There was naturally going to be backlash from a certain dark lord, but too many people fear Cassiopeia to get on the bad side of the Black family.
There was a meeting with the Wizengamot in another week, Jasmine's first one that she was legally allowed to be present in the room for. She was going to bring the findings forward and then she would field questions and answers and watch as wizarding Britain was flipped on its head.
It was going to be rough couple weeks, she would be vilified by some members of the wizarding world, but in large, she knew that she would be thanked for it. It would be nice to see "purebloods" not be clinically insane from inbreeding.
Which is what led her to where she was now, lounging on the common room couch at nearly eleven in the evening. Five more minutes of editing had turned into two hours. Lily had long since gone to up to their dorm room to sleep. It was a Hogsmeade weekend, well, it was the day that she was going to meet Wardmaster Weston at the three broomsticks to discuss her internship.
Jasmine wanted as much of this editing done as possible before then. She nibbled at the end of her quill before shifting on the couch as a small shiver went up her body. The fall chill was beginning to settle within the castle and as much as she enjoyed sweater weather, it wasn't fun at night when she didn't have her comforter around her.
The common room entrance opened with a creak as Remus shuffled in with a yawn. His prefect duties must have just ended for the night. "I always forget how late rounds are," Jasmine called out, causing the werewolf to jump when he noticed her head poking over the top of the sofa. Her long hair was wound up in loose bun around her wand at the top of her head.
He gave her a small smile that was followed by another large yawn. The scars on his face stretching a little bit as he made his way over to her. "Isn't it a bit late for you to be down here?" He replied, taking a cursory glance at the mess of ink, paper and edits made all around her. He more than likely noticed her fingers which were covered in ink blots as well. "Jazz, that isn't due for another two weeks. You said it was going to take you hours to do."
She let out a huff as she set her quill down. "It is, but I have that interview tomorrow and I was having trouble sleeping, not to mention that Sirius is still have problems narrowing his suitor list down to a reasonable amount. Merlin knows it's either all or nothing with him."
"This isn't about Sirius, this is about you." He moved the parchment closest to her into a neat pile and sat next to her.
"It's time for bed, Jazz. All this work will be here in the morning. Overworking yourself is only going to make you grumpy and you don't need that for your interview tomorrow."
She let out a small huff and crossed her arms. This interview was something that she was honestly worried about. It wasn't too often that Jasmine got anxiety about anything. She had lived far too many lives for that, but interviews for jobs always frayed her nerves something awful. "Look, I know that I seem indestructible to you, James, Lily and Sirius, but I'm just really nervous about tomorrow. Meeting a wardmaster that is thinking about taking me on as an early apprentice isn't something I ever thought would be possible, especially with the life I lived."
Remus let out a sigh and took one of her ink stained hands in his scarred ones. His amber eyes met hers and, just like it had in the future, his gaze calmed her somewhat. It was magic that Remus just seemed to inherently possess. "Jazz, you are going to do great tomorrow. I've seen some of your warding work, and from what I can understand of it, it seems revolutionary. This guy would be a fool not to want to take you on. Mind, Padfoot, Prongs and I would miss you, but knowing you are living out a grand adventure would be worth it."
Yes, a grand adventure while she should be tracking down horcruxes. Merlin, she had so much to do before Voldemort ruined the world. There wasn't all that much time…she had made somewhat of a difference in this timeline. There were quite a few more families alive just after one year of her interfering, but she needed more than that, she needed some way to protect the wizarding world from itself. Getting her book published was one way, and then killing Tom Riddle was the next.
It would be hard to do either when she was traveling the world. Her shoulders sagged somewhat. "How do you always seem to be the best at giving pep talks?"
He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Years of practice. Someone has to keep Prongs in high spirits. Though, it seems like Lily is going to be coming around sooner rather than later."
Yes, one could hope that Lily would stop mooning over James in secret. Jasmine could only take so much of it. Though, she had been sworn to secrecy over it, so Jasmine couldn't share this with Remus. "Only time will tell," she replied with a smile before giving a small flick of her wand to clean up the mess of papers around her. It was high time she got to bed.
She gave Remus' hand one last squeeze before heading towards the stairs to the girls' dormitory.
"Sleep well, Jazz," he called from the stairwell.
"You as well, Remus. Don't let James' snoring keep you up again," she replied with a wink.
~*~
Naturally, because she went to bed so late the night before, Jasmine overslept, missing nearly all of breakfast. Normally, this would be a problem, she'd be late for class or something of that nature, but luckily her meeting wasn't until noon. Though, she would have preferred to be up and awake since nine, but ten thirty would have to do. Jasmine was going to ask Lily why she didn't wake her, but thought better of it. Her roommate has been a mess of nerves lately and Jasmine didn't want to get on her bad side.
The Marauders, Lily and Alice were all still in the Great Hall when she arrived. The boys were in some kind of deep huddled conversation, more than likely about a prank. Lily and Alice were finishing off their breakfasts.
There was only fifteen minutes left, but she'd managed to grab a few pieces of toast and a cup of tea. James held out two letters for her. Jasmine flipped it around, the seals were still intact and she raised an eyebrow at her cousin. He gave a sheepish grin. "Look, mum was the one that opened your mail the other day, not me. She's your guardian and can get away with that. I don't want to know the curses that are attached to those letters."
Considering that one letter is from the Black family, Jasmine really didn't want to know what kind of curses and hexes they had one their mail either for those who attempt to open them without permission. The other letter was from Petunia, which would have been completely safe to open, but James didn't need to know that.
Jasmine opened Petunia's letter, this was the first time the older girl had attempted to reach out to her since they'd met over the summer.
Her handwriting was pretty and easy to read as she scanned it over. Petunia was planning on going into photography for University. It wasn't something her parents wanted, but something she wanted to pursue. She left a few polaroid pictures in the envelop. They were lovely images taken from local scenery in the area.
Who knew Petunia had an artistic eye for scenery.
"Is that from my sister?"
Lily was eyeing the photos.
Jasmine nodded. "Yes, she wanted to keep in contact after meeting this past summer. I didn't know you sister like photography."
"I mean, she always liked it. I didn't know she had gotten this good since I left for school…" Lily mumbled as she shuffled through the photos.
Jasmine handed the pictures to her and figured she would reply to Petunia later this evening. She then opened up the business letter from Cassiopeia Black. Merlin, this woman was relentless. She wanted to double check the release date for the book as well as Jasmine's attendance at the Wizengamot in November. There was one more request at the bottom of the page. "Well, Sirius, it looks like I will be attending your family's Christmas party again this year."
Sirius' attention zeroed in on Jasmine and the letter in his hand. "We haven't sent out invitations yet."
"Your aunt said that she expected me there. Seemed rather adamant about it," she responded, letting Sirius pluck the letter from her hand and read it word for word himself. He didn't trust his aunt, which was understandable. Cassiopeia had a reputation of doing rather underhanded things to people she didn't like, just because she could.
"I'll ask my father about it, but it seems like it's genuine. I don't know why Aunt Cassie likes you so much, Jazz. It's terrifying."
Jasmine let out a small laugh. Cassiopeia more than likely thought that Jasmine was just a little bit homicidal and enjoyed tearing the wizarding world's standards to shreds while still maintaining its historical integrity.
"I think she just likes like that Jazz's family is known for being full of secrets. She's like a Russian nesting doll and your Aunt just wants to get to the core of what makes Jazz tick. Though, I doubt that Jazz is ever going to really let her see that, but she can hope." James commented as the plates disappeared from the tables and breakfast was officially declared over for the morning.
"Well, it's still odd. Merlin, my aunt hates just about everyone. How the bloody hell did you impress her?" Sirius grumbled, getting up from the table as James and Remus followed.
Jasmine let out a small laugh as she collected her belongings. It was time to head down to Hogsmeade for her meeting. She had a couple notebooks with some incomplete, but thought out, wards incase the wardmaster wanted to make sure that she knew what she was talking about. "As fun as talking about your aunt is, Sirius, I need to get going. I have a long afternoon ahead of me," she turned to her cousin, "I believe that you were going to escort me there and back."
James gave her a mock salute, "Of course, Jazz, who is else is going to make sure that this wardmaster doesn't snatch you up or do anything untoward."
Sirius let out a snort and muttered, "Not like she couldn't just curse him into oblivion on her own."
"What was that, Sirius?"
His back straightened, "Nothing, Jazz."
That's what she thought.
~*~
The walk to Hogsmeade was filled with Sirius' whining as they made their way towards The Three Broomsticks. It was a chilly day, as the autumn air blew small gusts of wind through the small village. James was pulling faces at Sirius' commentary and Jasmine was doing her best not to burst out laughing. The Black Heir was none the wiser.
"She's crazy though, Jazz. Homicidal crazy that you can't prove in court. How can you work with her?"
At least they couldn't prove it in court.
"You know, Padfoot, I feel bad for your future bride. She's going to have to try and get on your Aunt's good side. Did you think about that?" James interjected between Sirius' litany of complaints.
He groaned, hands gesturing to the sky, ever the drama king. "Don't even get me started, Prongs. She already knows who she wants me to marry. Both her and my father are pushing a foreign witch on me."
That was news to both Jasmine and James, who turned to look at their now bashful friend. "Honestly, Sirius, why didn't you tell us that before you gave us a long list of purebloods to look through if your family already has one singled out!" Jasmine scolded, her pointer finger waggling near his face just make a point.
He swatted it away. "Because I wanted to see what you three could come up with. I don't trust my family to make those kinds of decisions. You guys know me better and the witch they want isn't someone that I think is feasible. I'll see who you guys pick and compare," he replied with a wave of his hand. His tone was far too dismissive.
Jasmine narrowed her eyes, for some reason she felt he wasn't being completely honest with them, but she didn't have time to bring it up, they had reached their destination. Sirius nudged Jasmine inside, James following close behind.
It only took Jasmine a moment to realize that something wasn't quite right in The Three Broomsticks. It seemed normal, to the naked eye, but Jasmine could see odd wards placed all over the establishment. One would need to walk around the room very carefully not to trigger them. "You two stay right here and don't follow me," she hissed, pinning them with a glare.
Both teens raised their hands up in defeat and watched as Jasmine, very carefully, maneuvered her way through the room. The wards were mostly for proximity, but they were layered between something she couldn't quite distinguish without a lot of time being put into deconstructing them and she didn't want to see what kind of chain reaction that would cause when she was due to meet the wardmaster in the center of it all.
So, Jasmine shimmied and tiptoed her way through the tables and around invisible lines that her rune vision could detect with ease. When she reached the end of this little maze there was an older gentleman sitting the in a wood chair nursing a glass, of what appeared to be fire whiskey. His face was devoid of facial hair, which was common for people that went into warding and curse breaking, there couldn't be a hair out of place when dealing with wards and if they can't tie it back, it was best to just not have any.
His honey colored eyes met hers as she reached the table after avoiding all of his traps. There was a slow grin creeping up his weathered features. She reached the table with about a minute to spare for the actual interview time.
"So, you are the famed Peverell Heir that I've been hearing so much about. I pictured you taller. I'm Wardmaster Weston."
His voice rich, his lips quirked up and it seemed he was prone to smiling if the laugh lines in his face were anything to go by.
Jasmine took her seat across from him. A small smile of her own teasing at the corners of her mouth. "I get that a lot."
His head cocked to the side for a moment, his gaze narrowing on the rune under her left eye. It didn't take a wardmaster to know what it did, though most never looked close enough to really notice what it was.
"Now, while it was impressive that you passed my little test, it wasn't really all that fair with that rune under your eye. Did you do that to yourself?"
His tone wasn't accusing, but merely curious. She had heard of people mutilating themselves to use runes to make them function at a higher capacity.
She shook her head and worried her lip as she replied, "No, though the people that held me down and burned it into my flesh would say otherwise. I suppose the best way to explain it, was that I wasn't born blind in my one eye. The people that cost me my sight decided the best way to fix it was to permanently scar it into my skin."
The man didn't wince, but he did look a bit taken aback by her honesty. Jasmine wasn't ashamed of how she lost her sight. It just wasn't the kind of story you told people in polite company. Honestly, it tended to make her relive a few of those unpleasant moments and she wasn't a fan of it, but interviews about dangerous magics tended to be a bit pervasive in nature.
"I'm sorry for that line of questioning. I do hope the people that did that to you are no longer a problem," he responded as he took a long drag of his fire whiskey.
"No worries, they're long gone."
He nodded before pulling out a piece of parchment with various notes scribbled around a larger body of text. The handwriting was awful, but with a bit of squinting Weston seemed to make it out. "My wife's penmanship has always been questionable at best. She was the wardmaster in charge of new hires and apprentices, but as you can tell, we're getting up there in years. No amount of magic can fix nearly one hundred and thirty years of aging. Her hands are far too unsteady to carve runes anymore, and most days she prefers to be at home with the kneazles. I was never good at interviewing, just testing."
Jasmine bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from making a comment at she might have regretted. "Is there a reason that you stepped out of your comfort zone to come and speak to me?"
Weston gave her a wide grin, full of teeth. "Your free response on your OWLs was a marvel to read. I couldn't just let you go. It isn't every day that a youngster has such a grasp of runes and their modern applications. If I didn't snatch you up, no doubt someone else will in a year or so."
She felt a blush creep up her cheeks at the compliment. This was the man in charge of running the Gringotts ward program. He and his wife more than likely passed away without ever training a replacement and goblins sure as hell weren't going to do it. That would require speaking to wizards outside of the work hours and Merlin knows that wasn't going to happen.
I'm glad that you think so highly of me. Is there anything you need to know off that list about me?"
Weston scanned the list for a moment, took a long drink of his fire whiskey and let out a long sigh. "All of these questions are self-explanatory to me. You passed my little test by making it to the table. Here," he passed a sheet of paper over to her, "Take a look at this and see if it makes any sense."
It was a contract. Goblin crafted if Jasmine wasn't mistaken. It was a wok contract for an early apprenticeship. There was a bit about emancipation and self-study. She was guaranteed some kind of warding position once her training was finished.
"You want me to quit school?" Jasmine asked, hoping for a bit of clarification on the issue. While it wouldn't be unheard of for a student to take their NEWTs early or outside of formal magical schools, but it wasn't common.
He tapped an impatient finger on the table. "Well, that is entirely up to you. I would suggest it on the principle that you don't need Hogwarts to be a successful witch or wizard, not with your skill and ideas. I will want a response by April at the latest, but I would prefer something in after the new year. Hogwarts is wasting your talent. You could more than likely take your NEWTs early and pass with everything you'd need for the job by mid to January next year. You would be leaps and bounds ahead of your classmates after studying under me and my wife for a year.
Wardmaster Weston stood up from the table, with a wink, and vanished from sight. There was a singed rune on the chair…she hadn't even sensed that he had used it. What a show off…
Merlin, she had a lot to think about.
Notes:I hope you enjoyed.
I know a lot of you have been asking about an updated schedule...
I can't promise anything resembling normal till the end of next week!
The semester is almost over for me!
Leave your comments and kudos below!
~SugarPhantom