章節 108: Avalon
A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07
—
Hogwarts- 22nd December, 1960:
Albus stood on the balcony of the Astronomy tower with a morose look on his face. Albus was feeling useless, not for the first time but it was a rare occurrence.
First time in recent years, was when the Dark Wizards attacked Diagon Alley a year and a half ago, and he lost a good friend, Thrud Rowle. He was in school that time, preparing for the academic year to begin and he only knew of the attack after the fact.
Second time was when a man from myths, that were now being circulated as scary stories, rose up against the Dark Lord Voldemort and his followers, the Death Eaters.
Atharva Joshi. The man who fought Gods, and if the current gossip is to be trusted, became a God himself.
God or not, this man infiltrated or broke through the spells protecting the houses of dozens of Death Eaters, and killed them in their house, while their family slept. And Albus hated it, hated the death this one man brought with him.
Those people could have been arrested, where they would have answered for their crimes just like Grindelwald's followers had done all those years ago. One man, no matter how Powerful, does not have the right to decide who deserves death. If that was true, the World would have been populated with just a fraction of a number that it is now.
And then, this Atharva Joshi proved to be much, much stronger than he had first believed. He defeated Voldemort like he was nothing, and even Mason had trouble with him. Albus knew just how strong the two men were, being a teacher to both of them, and they proved to be as good as ants in front of the man.
This Atharva then went on to have everyone chasing myths left and right, no one knowing which was just a myth and which was a fact. Albus was one of them, naturally, and even the Flamels proved to be useless in that regard.
Albus chased around still, searching for clues that might lead him to Atharva Joshi, so he could find him and.. he didn't know. Albus hadn't planned that far ahead, because he didn't expect to find Atharva Joshi anytime soon, let alone talk to him.
Even Kamar Taj gave him no answers. It was a miracle that the Sorcerers agreed to meet with him at all, given that he had tried to rob them with Gellert's help back when they were together and then demanded to be taught their Art when they were summarily defeated.
(Not to toot his own horn, but Albus knew he was exceptionally strong even when he was just 18, and the same could be said for Gellert.)
And so, Albus was back to being useless.
Until Atharva Joshi showed himself, first in the Ministry, and then to the ICW, giving grave warnings and promising great change. A home for just Magic, he had promised, just like Gellert.
Unlike Gellert, however, Atharva Joshi didn't ask for anything in return, nor did he wait to be given permission.
Almost a year later, it seemed he had found a way to fulfill his promise. He had found the Magical World a new home, away from the muggles, and free from the need to hide themselves.
The Wizarding Leaders had tried to find the man then, once again, to no avail. Some even loudly proclaimed that they would keep the muggle world in line, control their development in ways that the Wizards find a way to overcome it first. All in hopes that Joshi would hear them and answer their calls.
Albus didn't think it was right, hindering someone else's progress for your own sake. But he stayed silent, since he himself was busy trying to find the man.
Alas, Joshi never showed himself.
And here he was, back at Hogwarts, feeling as useless as ever. Once again he had tried to find the man, only to be met with no new clues at all. Only the old ones, circulating back up again and again, with new twists each time.
But there wasn't a shortage of fear, of anger. People were mad that they had no control over this, that they didn't have a vote on this, that they weren't even asked. Most Purebloods were happy that they wouldn't have to share their world with the Muggles.
But the others? Not so much. Some Purebloods had friends in the muggle world, businesses and business associates. Some even had families, relatives both distant and close. Some had their Squib siblings that they wanted to stay in touch with, and some had a lover or two in the muggle world that they didn't want to leave behind.
The most upset, however, were the muggleborns. Their parents, siblings, their lives, all were in the muggle world. And now, thanks to a decision made by one lone man, they were going to be separated from it all.
Albus sighs once more, wondering how the muggleborn students will handle it. The adults might get over it, or get used to their loneliness. But the children might develop a hate for the man, hate for the Wizarding World. And as the Headmaster, he might not be able to see it happen.
As for the Squibs, their minds were divided. Some thought that this was a wonderful idea, since they would be left behind and would get to stay out of the Wizarding matters, stay away from Wizarding Dark Lords.
But some Squibs were upset that they would be.. left behind. That they won't get to see the Wizarding World ever again. That they won't get to experience the miracle of Magic ever again.
Unless they join Kamar Taj that is, but not all Wizards have an affinity to learning Sorcery, and the same holds true for Squibs.
As for the other sentient Magical Beings, the Elves didn't care, same for the Centaurs. The Centaurs were even amused, saying that this was always written in the stars. Dwarves and Goblins were of two minds. Some were excited at the new prospects this new Home might bring, while others were angry at the fact that a Wizard was one to decide it all for them.
Mermen would be happy as long as there's water they can live in, while Hags would rather kill them for consumption than answer any questions the reporters asked. So no one really knew their opinion.
Vampires were upset, and there was no shortage of muggles killed by them in this year alone, so they could store blood. Werewolves, well they were resigned to their fate.
"Wizards have been deciding things for us for centuries now, so you know for once how it feels." One had said.
Hearing footsteps, Albus sighs, and says, "I apologize for intruding in your domain, Professor Astra. I just felt like enjoying the view."
Professor Venus Astra, an apt name for the Astronomy teacher, Albus always thought. But then again, his Arithmancy teacher was named Vector, and his Runes teacher was named Othila.
Professor Astra walks forward, and joining him at the ledge, she says, "I don't mind the company, Albus. Besides, this is the last night we might be seeing these stars, seeing as how the 'God of Magic' would be moving us to our new home, and who knows where that might be."
Albus smiles, amused at the way she said the title. God of Magic, that was what the populace was calling Atharva Joshi nowadays, because who else could promise such a thing while having a two thousand year old history behind them. There were no doubts whatsoever that he might fail doing this, even in Albus's mind. By what he had seen, Albus knew that this man could actually be able to do it. Move them all somewhere else.
Hearing another set of footsteps, the pair turns back, and sees his protege and now the current Transfiguration Professor walk through the door. Smiling at them morosely, she says, "Knew I'd find you here, Albus."
Albus nods at her, and says, "Young Penny is finally asleep, I assume?"
Penny Cooper, the sole Gryffindor that had remained behind this Christmas Break, solely because she had no family to return to. She was a muggleborn orphan, and had stayed in Hogwarts only because she was afraid she would be left behind, had she gone to her Children's home.
Nodding, Minerva joins them in watching the stars, and says, "She was afraid, naturally. Cried herself to sleep, poor dear."
Albus sighs, and says, "I just hope the transition to whatever new life we're dropped in is smooth for her."
For a while, the three Professors just stay silent, watching the stars, enjoying the view that they might be seeing for the last time in their lives. But then, Albus sees something moving on the corner of his vision.
Moving his head down and towards the forbidden forest, Albus blinks in confusion, staring at the sight with something akin to confusion.
There was a wave of.. bright fog?.. moving ever so slowly over the forbidden forest. The white wave completely covered the forest's height, and even the larger trees were invisible to them thanks to the Fog.
Albus then turns his eyes over the Fog, and stares at the blank patch of Scottish land he could see behind the forest. Which.. should not be possible. The Forbidden forest was as large as they come, going back dozens of kilometers away from the Castle, followed by miles and miles of unclaimed land.
It is why both the Castle, and the Village of Hogsmeade had remained undiscovered by the muggle world for so long. It was all surrounded by an illusion marking this area as a forested hill.
But now, the forest was barely a tenth of its size. And even that was disappearing quickly, at a rate of just around 30 meters per second.
"Is this it?" Minerva asks, staring at the Fog just like he was, and Albus wonders the same.
Is this how they would be taken to their new home? Or is this a different danger, independent from Atharva Joshi's promises?
He stands straight, and using his headmaster Privileges to loosen the Apparition Ward around the castle, he says, "Whether that is what's taking us to our new home, or it is something coming to kill us before the first can happen, I am not going without a fight. Will you come with me?"
And then, he disapparates, appearing down on the lawn, right in front of the Forbidden Forest. With a pop, his fellow Professors join him on the ground, their wands already drawn. And as one, sharing just a single look, the three raise their wands at the White Fog now approaching them.
Without a spell in mind, but knowing that they need to stop this White Fog from going towards the castle, the three shoot pure, unadulterated Magic towards it, hoping that Magic senses their desperation and helps them fight this wave of white fog.
Alas, the White Fog consumes their Magic just like it did the Forest, and within seconds, it covers them too, before they can even do anything.
Albus startles when the Fog covers him, and for a second he feels a sense of peace, a sense of belonging. It makes him wonder if this was how he would die, trying to save his school from an invading force of nature.
But then, he feels a pull. He feels something lifting him above ground, and pulling him somewhere else. Not unlike Apparition or Portkeys, the Pull was strong, and nothing he tried worked on making it stop.
And then, it stops after what could be a second or even an hour, and the White Fog that had kept him covered for the entire time retreats. His ears were ringing, and he could feel his head spin around thanks to the disorientation of whatever just happened.
Even still, Albus first glances at his fellow teachers and finds them to be on the ground, their eyes shut close, while Venus was rubbing her eyes. And then, Albus turns towards his school, scaring for the worst.
At first, he sees just the white Fog now retreating away from them in the direction of the Castle of Hogwarts. But then, when the Fog leaves, he sees the Castle, safe and sound.
Albus sighs, relieved that he did not fail to defend his school.
Suddenly, however, a gasp makes him turn around. He sees Venus standing up, staring at the sky with a shocked look on her face.
Wondering what scared her so, he turns towards the sky, and sees something that even shocks him into silence. There was a night sky above them, but it wasn't the one they had just spent a few minutes staring at.
"Is that..?" Minerva asks, whispering the question, too shocked to say it out loud.
Albus just calls out, "Venus?" Also whispering.
The Professor in question shakes her head, and says, "That's.. that's impossible. That's Saturn!"
Saturn, another Planet in their Solar System. And now it looked almost ten times as large as the moon looked at its largest.
"Well, at least we know where we are. Avalon, our promised home, is a moon of Saturn." Albus says, wondering how it was all even possible.
Hearing a thud, he turns around to see that Venus had fainted, out of shock or because of the Travel from Earth to Avalon, he didn't know. Another thud makes him realize that even Minerva had fainted, making him just sigh.
Hoping that their Healer hadn't fainted, Albus waves his wand, making his two colleagues float up into the air, and starts taking them to the Medical Wing.
All the while, he wondered how a simple Fog that reminded him of Home brought him from Earth, to one of Saturn's multiple moons.
—
From the top of the highest mountains to the bottom of the lowest pits and oceans, every Magical place governed by creatures of Gaea and Oshtur, every Mage, and Magical creature under either their domain, all were covered by the dense white fog exactly when the local time struck 11 PM on the night of 22nd December, 1960, that then transported them to their new home.
Avalon.
Adult wizards and witches, Hags, Vampires and Werewolves(but only of Mage origin) other Half-breeds, Magical beings like Goblins, Dwarves, Giants, Ogres, Veela, Banshees, and many others were transported by the Fog as the phenomenon was now called, straight to Avalon within seconds. Some, like Albus Dumbledore and two of his fellow teachers saw the fog coming and tried to fight it.
Others either slept through the entire thing, feeling nothing when the fog covered them, or they didn't even start to defend themselves before they were swallowed just the same.
Of those who tried to put up a fight, very few managed to keep their composure while most just knocked themselves out thanks to the overstimulation of their senses.
And so it wass, that when October 23rd dawned, each and every one of the creatures of Gaea and Oshtur woke up on a new Home.
Unknown to many, however, the Fog did not manage to bring everyone.
The Minister for Magic sweats, as he stares at the Atrium filled with reporters, Ministry workers, and many concerned citizens staring at him in expectation, waiting for him to give a statement. All around Wizarding Britain, people were listening to the Wizarding wireless, waiting for the speech to start, and Ignatius knew that just like him, the other world leaders were doing the same, or would do it soon enough.
"Ahem." Ignatius Tuft begins, clearing his throat. After tapping the microphone in front of him to check for the Sonorous charm, he says, "As we've all no doubt noticed, we are not where we used to be anymore. The sky is different, the stars are different, and while the Sun looks exactly the same, there is no moon above our heads. Instead, as you might be able to see even now, our new planet, is in fact a moon revolving around the fifth-"
"Cough-Sixth-cough." His undersecretary coughs, making him flush at the error.
"The sixth planet in our Solar System. Saturn." He continues, as if he hadn't messed up basic astronomy. Looking around at the people staring at him, and how they hadn't even reacted to the mistake, he sighs.
'What am I even doing?' he asks himself.
Their entire lives were flipped, things they knew as fact were changed. It was thought to be impossible to go to space, and now Wizards have done it, although not on their own. They actually had their entire World moved to a new planet. Moon.
Keeping the notes down, he says, "Look, we tried to prevent this. Our Unspeakables worked together to find a way to capture this man, Joshi, so we can stop him from displacing us. We even appealed to the Gods, we appealed to Atharva Joshi, and we even prayed to Mother Magic herself. I'm not religious, but that doesn't mean I didn't pray for help myself. But in the end, as you can see, it happened."
"We have three choices ahead of us now. First, spend all our resources in trying to find a way to reverse what's happened, so we can go back to our safe Planet Earth, where we can manipulate the muggle world into.. not killing us all when they find out about Magic. But in return, we will be back to hiding once again. Second, curse our situation while always believing that Earth was our home and this.. Avalon might just be our Prison. And lastly, instead of doing all that, we can move on with our lives."
Ignatius could see his words taking some effect, as there were more than a few tearful faces, and children hugging their parents. Running his hand through his hair, he says, "For the first time since 1692, when the Statute was first established, hell, for the first time since the Wizarding World came to be with the establishment of the first Wizard's Council we have a place just for our own use. An entire planet, moon, whatever, just for us. A place where there are no muggles, no persecution, no witch hunts!
"We can't go back, our Unspeakables don't think we'll manage it for a few centuries at least, unless we intend to leave all our houses, buildings, schools and even Diagon Alley behind. So.. why not make the best of it? Why not explore this new world we've found ourselves in? Why not use Magic freely just as it was intended? Just as our ancestors did before. Maybe when Magic is free once again, another Wizard amongst us might get strong enough to contend with the Gods and return us to our homes if we so wish then. So use Magic freely. Without the fear of breaking the Statute, without the fear of being found out and burned at the stake. Without the fear of being arrested for doing magic in public!"
"Woohoo!" "WHOO!" "YEAH!" People start cheering, clapping hands loudly at his speech.
Suddenly however, the head of the DMLE whispers something in his ears, making him widen his eyes. Hastily, he taps the mic a few times, and says, "People! PEOPLE! Granted, this does not give anyone the right to break any of the Magical Laws that we used to follow before. All the laws that we had in place on Earth are still in place here, save for the Statute of Secrecy, which.. since we don't have muggles to hide from, is null and void."
A raised hand makes him turn to a reporter who asks, "What about Diagon Alley and Gringotts? Will it open anytime soon?"
Gringotts had closed, pending investigations in their vaults, to make sure they left nothing behind. But even Ignatius knew that they were deciding whether to rebel or not.
Nodding, Ignatius Tuft says, "The Goblins of Gringotts and the ICW is in the middle of renegotiations. Now that we don't have to hide from muggles anymore, the Goblins have demanded Land to call their own, and as far as we can tell, they are still receptive to being Vault Guardians as they have been for the last.. few centuries. Any more questions?"
"What about Elves? Are they all dead, or did they free themselves as soon as we left Earth?" Another reporter asks, making him frown.
Ignatius turns towards the Head of the Office for House Elf relocation, which just has the one man and the other workers as Elves under him, turns off the mic, and asks, "Did anything happen to the Elves?"
The man frowns, and says, "I don't know. I haven't been to my office yet. I'll have to check."
The DMLE head steps forward once more, and whispers, "They're all gone, Minister. We don't know what happened to them, or where they are. My House Elf was gone, and so was one of my friend's. Do you not own an Elf, Minister?"
Tuft just shakes his head, and says, "My mother may have been the Minister before me, Shafiq, but our family was not rich enough to afford an Elf."
Shaking his head, Tuft turns on the mic once more, and says, "We will be investigating that too, and we will get back to you on that. Now, we still have a lot of work to do, one of which is creating a proper Ministry Building for us all, above ground this time, as well as checking up on Azkaban and seeing how our wardens and our prisoners are doing. There will be a ministry worker visiting all of your houses to get a census completed. We need to check if anyone was left behind, and if so, how we can bring them back here if they want to come here that is. Offices and shops will continue as usual, but until then, enjoy our new home. Enjoy Avalon!"
—
"Albus! The House Elves are all gone! What do we do?!" Horace Slughorn yells, as he jogs into the Great Hall of Hogwarts, having just listened to the Wizarding Wireless, only to stop at the sight before him.
Albus Dumbledore was standing over a large grill, dozens of meaty steaks sizzling on top of it, with a hand in his Cloak's pocket. Not just any steak, Dragon Steak. The sheer sight of it made Horace's mouth water, and caused him to forget why he was here.
All around him, all of 21 students crowded the barbecue, watching Albus cook the meat with rapt attention. Behind them, on the Professor's table, sat the teachers, each one eating some food or the other, with Pamona gladly stabbing through her steak with gusto.
"Ah, Horace. Glad you're up. Come, join us." Albus jovially says, waving his wand, sending the steak on top of a plate that floats over to Horace.
Mutely, he takes it, and after eating a bite of ecstasy, he exclaims, "Albus! The Elves! And where did you even get this much Dragon meat?!" All the while, he continues eating.
Albus waves his wand once more, sending the two dozen dragon steaks over to the lone table sitting in the middle of the Great Hall, where the students sit down to start eating food. But not just steak, no. There were different dishes, both vegetarian and not, rice, spaghetti, pasta, and even fish, all of them kept warm by spells.
Albus smiles, and as he starts eating his share too, he says, "I realized last night itself that the Elves were gone, Horace. I just hope they're happier wherever they are now. Anyway, as soon as we realized the Kitchens were empty, Pamona and I began cooking food. I was saving this Dragon meat for a special occasion, but what can I say? The children needed to be cheered up, and I delivered."
Horace stops, and asks, "So.. the Kitchens are empty. The Elves are gone. What about our daily meals? What about our Laundry? What about cleaning up?! Albus! This is a travesty!"
Albus just chuckles, and says, "Have some rice and veggies, old friend. This is less of a travesty, and more of a.. new chance. How long were we going to stay dependent on the free labour from Elves, Horace. Some day or another, they would have gotten free. Whether by our hands, or their own. It always happens, the past of our muggle friends can attest to that."
"It's better that it happened now, without any conflict, while we can teach our young ones how to move on from this. Who knows? Maybe this generation of children will even become better people in the end. Better leaders for the Wizarding World even."
—
Elsewhere, back on Earth. A group of 3000 House Elves suddenly appeared on the shore of an Island. They were confused, since one moment they were in their homes, in their schools, or drinking their sorrows away after being freed for a few days, and the next, they were here.
Joseph, the leader of the Free Elves of Elfland smiles when he sees their confused looks. Turning towards his daughter, he says, "Go on. Introduce yourself, you're to be our Leader, and they will make up almost half our number. So make sure you leave a good impression."
As he watches his daughter talking with the newly Freed Elves, by the blessings of Gaea, Magic, and Lord Athreos, he smiles, and whispers, "Ancestors. It seems Lord Athreos fulfilled his promise of freeing our Kind from our shackles. He may have been two thousand years late, but better late than never. Thank you, Lord Athreos."
And so it was, that each and every one of the House Elves of Earth were freed, turned into Free Elves of Elfland. Just Elves.
—
2nd January, 1961:
Albus watches over the incoming students with a frown, somehow knowing even without counting that the number of returning students wasn't correct.
The nations had stabilized as much as they could within ten days. Ministries were running smoothly, people had begun claiming land, erecting borders and fences. And sure, there were some quarrels, but after the Ministry intervened, each party left happier and richer than they were before.
There wasn't a shortage of land! This entire planet was theirs, and people were just too used to sharing hidden patches of land and fighting over it to realize they don't need to do it anymore.
But there were also some problems, the most important of them being food. Some families had land, but they had long since abandoned farming. Like the Weasleys, Prewetts and the Parkinsons. While others had land, but only used it to farm Magical herbs, like the Greengrasses.
There were a lot of experiments made by everyone, while the grain was provided by the Unspeakables, so Wizards could learn to farm once again. Albus was certainly glad that a formerly disgraced family, Weasleys, were now slowly improving their status in the Wizarding World thanks to their highly fertile lands, and the success rates which they had the highest.
While right now they were using Magic to speed things up, soon, the Wizarding World would become independent on its own, Albus knew.
But still, he can't help but be troubled by the 30 something students missing from the Great Hall.
"Muggleborns." He suddenly voices out, realizing exactly who's missing.
"Did something happen? Did they not cross over like we did, Albus?" Minerva whispers to him from his left.
Albus frowns, and says, "I don't know why it should be so. Miss Cooper came with us, why didn't the others?"
Was it possible that whatever spell brought them here failed? That the spell didn't account for muggleborn children living alone. He knew that the Adult muggleborns had no trouble crossing over, but what about the children?
DING!
He suddenly stands up, and says, "Horace, take over for me, would you. I need to get to my office real quickly."
Someone was in his office, and he hadn't let them in.
As the others watch on in surprise, since he had never done something like this before, Albus disapparates from the Great Hall, using his Headmaster privileges to loosen the wards for a moment, and appears inside his office, wand already drawn.
But then, he stops, seeing the man of his nightmares just standing near the window, his back to Albus, with his hands behind his back.
"Peace, Professor Dumbledore, I am not here to fight, or to cause problems." Atharva Joshi says, without even turning around.
Albus keeps his wand pointed at the man, no matter how useless it might prove, and says, "I find that a tad bit hard to believe, Mr Joshi."
Atharva turns around, and for a moment, Albus is stunned by exactly how old his eyes look. The face couldn't be older than thirty years, but his eyes. The eyes told the tale of centuries, of millennia.
Atharva leans back, and calmly sits on the window, with a foot raised up, and his hand curled around his bent knee next to his chest. He says, "This used to be my favourite spot in the Castle. Before Godric turned it into his office of course. You can feel the entire Castle from here, see the Quidditch Pitch as well as the Centaur Village if your eyes are good enough."
"I wasn't aware you knew the founders." Albus says, as he keeps staring at the man.
Atharva nods, and says, "I went by a different name then, a different face. I had Seen the School happening, hundreds of years before it actually did happen. And so, when the Four got together, I came here with my wife, offering help. I donated a cache of my books to Rowena's already impressive collection, and I taught History for twenty years, while also being the School's first Healer. My wife, meanwhile, worked as the First Librarian. It's funny, she could have taken all four founders and me in a fight and come out on top, and yet, she chose to be a Librarian."
Albus stares at him, not knowing what to feel. This man, this dangerous man was inside his school. But by the looks of it, he wasn't actually here to cause problems. And what could Albus even do, if he was? Previous experience had taught him that he wasn't strong enough to fight this man.
"Why are you here, Mr Joshi?" He asks instead, slowly dropping the wand down.
The man turns away from the window, having returned to staring out of it during the conversation, and says, "The New Blood. Muggleborns. You must've noticed by now that they're not here."
Albus nods and says, "I know the adults came here just fine, but the children haven't. Why did that happen?"
Atharva sighs, and says, "The children don't yet consider this place, the Magical World, as their home, as their place of belonging. The adult muggle borns have been here long enough that despite the problems they face, they consider this their world. The children are still of two minds.
"My spell.. it couldn't force the children to make a decision, not when that decision could separate them from their families forever. And so, it kept them where they felt a sense of belonging. In their home."
"But what about their training? They need to learn how to use their magic lest they turn into something they cannot control at all. And what about after? I doubt Muggleborns will stop being born in the muggle world, on Earth, just because we came here." Albus argues, having thought this before too.
Atharva nods, and says, "Don't worry. The muggleborns are being brought to this world as we speak, and they will show up in the Great Hall momentarily. But they cannot stay here. Not yet. As for the other muggleborns, I will figure something out."
Albus frowns, and asks, "That's it? You'll bring them here just like that?"
Smiling, Joshi shakes his head and says, "Not just like that, no. I have a.. contact within your Department of Mysteries. I've asked them to set something up, so people can traverse between the two planets. It will have to be regulated, of course, but I do believe that it should solve all of our problems. Muggleborns can stay in touch with their families while not sacrificing their Magical heritage, students can visit the muggle world to gain experience that way, and the concerned citizens can keep their trade active with the Muggle world. I think it should work, don't you?"
Albus nods, accepting that it might just work. A particular invention by Mrs White-Greengrass certainly came to mind. Yes, the Gate should allow for this to be possible as long as proper laws are followed. Or else, they might just be used by the Pureblood supremacists to terrorize the muggle world.
For a second, they stay silent, as Albus keeps staring at the man, and the man keeps staring outside.
Not able to keep it in, Albus asks, "Was it really bad? What you showed us? Will the future actually be that bad?"
"Worse." Atharva answers with a scowl. "The future I showed you was one where the Muggles experiment on Wizards after they find Magic. They accept Sorcerers, of course, since technically Sorcery can be learned. But Wizards, the born Mages? In almost every timeline that Wizards and Muggles stay together we are found out, and muggles experiment on us. They try to find out how our Magic works so they can use it too. In others, there is an all out War between the two sub-races of Humans. And no matter how strong Wizards and Witches might get, Professor Dumbledore, the muggles have numbers. In the end, they will remain standing, and Wizards will be the one to go extinct."
"And now?" Albus asks. "Has that future changed, now that you've brought us here, to a moon of Saturn?"
Atharva sighs and says, "Future is always changing, Professor Dumbledore. Even our conversation has caused it to change multiple times. What I saw before was just multiple possibilities of the future, what could have happened. Right now, there is something stopping me, or anyone really, from seeing past more than a decade into the future. But within these 13 years that I've seen happen, not a single Wizard or Witch will be found or experimented on by the muggle world."
He then smiles, and staring at Albus, he says, "I will be on Earth, making sure that it never happens."
"You're not staying here?" Albus asks, a bit surprised.
Atharva shakes his head, and says, "I have a place, a Sanctuary for Magical creatures, on Earth. I need to tend to it, and keep tending to it. Besides, the people need to know that while I brought them here, I am not planning on ruling over them. My presence here will just make it that much harder to believe."
A sanctuary? Albus would believe it if he saw it.
"Do not worry, Professor Dumbledore. I am not your enemy, nor am I someone to be afraid of. I will be keeping an eye on Muggleborn births on Earth, but I would suggest making sure they have better lives here than the Muggleborns of old did in your hidden society. And well, if you need my help, don't hesitate to call for help. I am, after all, the Guardian of Magic."
And with those words, the man disappears from the Castle, the wards letting him out even easier than they did him, the Headmaster.
Albus sighs, and turning towards Fawkes, who had just stared at the conversation without making a move to help him at all, he says, "My life will just get harder from here now, won't it?"
'What does he know? Fawkes is a bird.' he thinks privately as Fawkes stays silent, and proceeds to summon a bottle of firewhiskey.
—
Elsewhere in a house in what is now Magical London of Avalon, a woman wakes up with a start, as she feels someone staring at her.
She scowls when she recognizes the man in her bedroom, and asks, "Do you not know how to use the door, Aves?"
Mason Aves, the man in question just smiles, and says, "This is your punishment for not respecting my Mental privacy when we were children. What? You thought you were forgiven? Nope, privacy violation in return of privacy violation."
"Bloody hell." Cassiopeia Black groans, slamming her head back down on the pillow.
Reflexively, she raises her hand to catch something thrown at her, and sees it to be a key. As she stares at it in confusion, Atharva says, "Well, what are you waiting for? Get dressed. The MIS is not going to run itself. Not as we want it to run at least."
"The MIS? But I quit! How can I work on Earth while being on Avalon!" Cassiopeia exclaims, now completely awake.
Atharva just chuckles, and says, "You have the key. Open the door and see for yourself. You'll find it not that hard to continue with your work. Besides, you'll find your brother to be highly thankful when you return after the two weeks of holiday you took. Poor bloke's being overwhelmed over there."
As she turns towards where Atharva was pointing his thumb, Cassiopeia sees a door where there wasn't one before. In the middle of her wardrobe, and her book shelf.
Sighing, she asks, "What's the task then, boss?"
Atharva grins, and says, "That's the spirit. I knew I could count on you once again. As for the task. The Wizards may be free from the idiocy of Muggles, but not everyone is. The MIS will have two more goals now. Monitoring Muggleborn births, and keeping an eye on the Mutants."
Cassiopeia nods, having known what mutants are for years now. She then glares at the man who brought her more work, even after she quit after saying her goodbyes to her brother, and says, "I am not going to change in front of you, Aves."
Aves just waves his hand, conjuring a portal in the same motion, and says, "You're too old for me anyway. Besides, I'm married, Ms Black. Now, chop chop. Get to work."
As the portal closes behind him, Cassiopeia takes a moment to put the pillow over her face and scream out her frustrations. Where once she was the proud daughter of the Black Family, she was now a shepherd to a group of squibs and muggles, whose new duties included keeping an eye on new Muggleborn mages. So yes, she was frustrated.
And then, she starts to get ready.
Frustrating it might be, but her house could attest to how bountiful her job was. Besides, she liked being the one to give orders to all those muggles, squibs and muggleborns. Granted, the muggleborns might not be returning to their jobs now that they're on a different planet.
But judging by how Aves made her go to work even still, using one of her sister's friend's inventions to boot, she had no doubts that most of the MIS will be coming in today.
—
A/N: And that's over. This entire arc is over, just the way I wanted it to be.
The Wizarding world is moved to a new home, safely away from the crazy muggle scientists. Nathaniel Essex is dead. Cassiopeia is still handling the MIS even after a decade and a half. Darla and Ana have a child, Mia has James, and the Flamels have little Alain Flamel. (or Tom Riddle JrJr, the son of Candra the External and Tom Riddle, grown in the womb of the character named Black Womb.)
Mason has all three hallows, at least for now, but nothing has happened yet. I'm not planning for anything, but I might change my mind too. Elves are all free, Wizards have to do all their work by themselves now, so they're on the way to become less lazy, and as for the Goblins, well that will remain in the background.
(I had a subplot in mind, which I won't be bringing in thanks to my own lack of patience:
Basically, Ragnuk, the Goblin that Mason brought back to life temporarily and gave him a body so he could check up on his descendants. He sees that all his descendants were killed centuries ago, and how Goblins are basically slaves to Wizarding whim, with barely a fraction of the Magical talents they had before, and so when the time comes for him to go, he uses a Goblin Ritual to switch bodies with the current Goblin King, replacing him. Death takes the King's soul back, considering it a fair trade or some other bullshit, and Ragnuk proceeds to bring forth a revolution in the Goblin Nations.
Anyway, that was abandoned but if anyone wants to write anything on it, feel free! Even as a one-shot!)
The next chapter will either start directly with the MCU part, meaning Avengers, or it will start with Summary type chapters of all X-Men movies that happen before Avengers.
The reason that those summaries might appear is that some X-Men characters might show up in the MCU chapters. Namely the X-Men, Xavier, Magneto and a few others. The summaries will basically allow you to understand what happens without me having to waste too many chapters on it.
Anyway, thank you for being with me despite the slow pace of my story. No I'm not quitting, just felt like thanking you all.
Thank you.
Thank you for all your support, and good words. Tata!
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票