Chapter Three – Jaden

"I Am Lord Voldemort, go forth and seek on my behalf, I command you, my daughter."

That had worked with Narcissa. I think she was correct in assuming that the parallel construction of this phrase would unlock Jaden. As I struggled with the proper wording, given the massive clues which had already been handed to me, I realised how much others had already cheated on my behalf. I felt ashamed to have mistrusted Cotto and King Gobbledegook.

"I think he might still refer to himself as Lord Voldemort in dealing with Jaden," Hermione suggested. "I don't think that part of the key has changed. I'm not as sure that he would refer to Jaden as 'my love'. He had soured on her. She betrayed him and now she was his prisoner. She wasn't his sex slave; he seems to have had no further interest in her from that regard. No… love seems wrong."

"How about prisoner, or even slave," Ron suggested. "That's how he saw her, and it would reinforce his authority over her, in the same way that daughter did with Narcissa."

"True," Harry agreed, "but 'daughter' was the velvet glove over the metal fist. It suggests that he expected Narcissa to obey him out of the love or loyalty of a daughter for a father. Narcissa had no choice. She was terrified of Voldemort and she was forced to comply. Try to think of a similar, somewhat ironic, description of Jaden's relation to Voldemort."

"Wife!" Ron answered instantly. "Voldemort certainly didn't believe in equal rights for Witches. I'm sure he'd treat his wife as practically a slave. Herr Schwein was more progressive. I think that 'wife' has exactly the correct shade of irony."

I felt quite sure that Ron was correct. In a perverse way, it seemed totally correct. But what if I was wrong? I didn't want to destroy Jaden, after all she had suffered. I needed an edge.

Despite my emotional reaction to rebel from what seemed to be Cotto's and Firenze's manipulation of me, my rational side knew that a lot of cheating of the rules had occurred on my behalf. Whatever their motives, they clearly wanted me to succeed with my Quest. Perhaps the Stone could be persuaded to cheat a little on my behalf. It seemed to have grown quite fond of me. I thought we trusted each other. While I was upset that the Stone kept an important part of itself locked away from me, I still viewed it as a helpful friend.

"Hermione and I need to commune with the Stone," I informed Harry and Ron. "You should go to the Ministry and tell Dad about the meeting in the cave, before he sends his aurors to drag us back. Hermione and I need to go to the chamber below the floor of the pyramid. If we want to encourage the Stone to be indiscrete and share its Quest secrets with us, I think it best to ask it while we're in the lower chamber, curled around its spine. We may even need to merge with the Stone. We may be a while. Don't worry and please don't try to contact us through the Stone, unless it is a real emergency."

The lads weren't altogether pleased, but they left. Sharing unpleasant news with Dad was not the preferred assignment. I didn't know how Harry would communicate that my odds of surviving the Quest were less than two in three. How could he reveal that, without his own unhappiness and dread leaking out? It wasn't fair to Harry and Ron, but I just couldn't bring myself to tell Dad directly.

Hermione and I snuggled up against the stone and I addressed it We need your help to plan for our Quest. We need to question Jaden, but we don't want to harm her. We think we know Voldemort's secret phrase to unlock her mind, but we may be wrong. We fear that some hidden trap in her mind will destroy her if we are wrong about the phrase. We also know that Narcissa was told slightly different Quest rules than we were, and that Voldemort knew some of the Quest locations.

The Stone was reluctant to cheat overtly. It told me that the rules existed for a purpose known to the Light Guardian and the other Gods. As a creation of the Light Guardian, it must honour that purpose. It wanted us to succeed. It craved renewed contact with the 'missing circles' and would miss contact with us, were we to perish on the Quest. It feared that without Hermione and me it might well be 'dead' for another millennia.

It certainly didn't want Jaden or Narcissa to come to harm. They were intelligent, sensitive Witches who were abominably dominated and misused by Voldemort. Had I said that about Narcissa? She certainly was a Witch of extreme contrasts. We were not at all trustworthy, but if anyone had a right to blame a horrid childhood, that person was Narcissa. The Stone promised to help us as much as it could. Hinting yes, cheating no. Did we like riddles? The Stone wasn't sure that it could create suitable riddles but knew them to be an acceptable way to communicate that which could not be lawfully communicated. A riddle couldn't count as cheating, could it? The Stone answered a few of our specific questions.

The Quest sites vary from Quest to Quest, based on which circles need the most help and which of the old Gods and Goddesses need to have their pledges renewed. Sometimes there is the need to check on a God or Goddess, who hasn't been heard from for a time. Deaths must be recorded. The ill must be tended to. The Deepest Covenant must be renewed from time to time as the lesser Gods and Goddesses forget and shirk their duties. They are supposed to notify me that they still follow the Covenant at least once a century. Sometimes a God or Goddess's plea for help was the event which precipitated the 'calling to Quest'.

I've been sleeping, perhaps God's and Goddesses tried and were unable to reach me. You will have to contact them and get them to recommit to the covenant. If they or their realm are in danger, you must help them as much as you are able. Since there hasn't been a Quest since Narcissa's was called off, it is unlikely the sites have changed in such a short time. Perhaps you changed the list a little when you revived me. I have no idea why all of me, the White Stone, and the original Chamber of Secrets circle would be needed. Perhaps your itinerary will be slightly different than Narcissa's would have been. I doubt more than minor changes.

I really don't know how I could have been involved in instructing Narcissa on her Quest, if I was sleeping. Perhaps the Keeper of the Universe can talk to me in my sleep. I asked Cotto and Firenze, but they don't understand, either. They didn't know I existed as a big, black stone. There was something they talked to in a trance, sometimes. They think that must have been a part of me. They thought the thing which spoke to them was connected to the Sacred Cavern circle. Of course, I am connected to the Sacred Cavern circle. It does have a very primitive intelligence. Perhaps it taps into me, even when I sleep. If I as the Stone don't know, who could possibly know. Perhaps the truth will just appear to me.

Yes, you have been one with me, but not one with all of me. There are parts of me, which I sense are there, but I can't see into. I don't know how much of me that is. You were inside me; did you see big holes? I hope that a successful Quest might unlock some of those parts. If so, I would be most grateful and most happy to share. I think you would just have to become one with me again.

Where was I? Oh yes, Voldemort's surmises were correct. I know, since I must transport the Quest team.

I do not believe Voldemort felt the need to place a self-destruct instruction in Jaden's mind. He was very sure of himself.

You should trust Cotto and Firenze. I would not be overly trusting of King Gobbledegook. He has his own schemes.

I am in your head and know you to be a good Witch. The Light Guardian agrees. It is a great mark in your favour that you were willing to give up two Witch assistants to add an Elf and a Goblin. That is unselfish and fully in the spirit of the Quest. I am pleased that you could keep all your Witches in the end. No, I didn't know that until the instant before Cotto told you. I think you can safely take a Unicorn. The Light Guardian would never sacrifice a Unicorn. I don't know about a Centaur.

It is a good thing that you feel forced into the Quest against your wishes and for the good of your community. You approach the Quest for noble reasons. That makes you a worthy Mother. You are wrong that the rules are foolish. There are many pretenders who would make the Quest for personal gain. They must be turned away. Myth and ritual are important. The Light Guardian visits us less than once a millennium. I was dead for longer than that. Ritual is often all we must sustain ourselves.

One last bit of advice: broken birds do not fly. I don't think that is a proper riddle. It is the best that I can do for now.

That was all the Stone was willing to tell us. I didn't fully understand all that it did tell us. I feared that half of those I considered for my Quest could be described as broken birds.

The Stone did tell us one more thing. it said that wheedling an instrument of the Gods was unseemly and not at all the done thing. It had its orders from powers greater than us. The Deepest Covenant must be abided by. No, its contents were not for our minds. I was not yet the fully-fledged Mother. Yes, the Stone knew that the Light Guardian had labelled me as Mother. Surely, I was old enough to recognise that contradictions abounded.

I didn't ask any more questions. I didn't want the Stone to think of me as I thought of McGonagall. Was McGonagall a broken bird or were her current flaws always a part of her? Was I not to include any broken birds on my Quest, or was I just being forewarned that there would be times when I would be forced to carry them? I didn't think a broken bird could be mended in the two weeks I had available to me.

We Apparated back to Harry's and my house. Ron and Harry were sitting at our eating table, drinking Witch sherry and talking loudly. They were not at all happy and their unhappiness seemed focused upon me. A comment from my brother forced me to amend that last thought to Hermione and me.

"I take it that your meeting with Dad did not go well."

"No, it really didn't," my brother belligerently replied. "Somehow he doesn't approve of my wife and my sister setting out to kill themselves to do the bidding of the Goblin King."

"You could have told him yourself," Harry complained.

"No, we really couldn't have. He never would have let us get the whole story out and it would have been terribly awkward for him as well as us. It was far better that he learns the truth from those who are as worried for us as he is. I'm sure it made it much easier for him to give full vent to his fury."

"He certainly didn't feel constrained at all," my brother admitted. "He didn't so much commiserate with us as yell at us, as if we had made the decision that you should go on this Quest."

"I think he expected you to stop us," Hermione observed. "I thank both of you for allowing us to do what we must do."

"I think we both know that we can't possibly stop you, so we must help you as best we can," Harry told us. Clearly, he was nearly as unhappy as Dad.

"So, did you learn anything from the Stone?"

"Just a little, Harry. The Stone can't cheat for us, but it wants to help. It did confirm that Voldemort's guesses of Quest locations are likely correct. The Stone was a little cryptic, but I don't think it believes we should take Narcissa. It says that King Gobbledegook is not entirely to be trusted. It doesn't think we can harm Jaden trying what we think is the triggering phrase. The Stone thinks Voldemort was too confident to bother installing destructs in Jaden's mind. That makes sense. He was always linked to her and didn't expect to die. And the Quest is a Light Guardian affair, although the Stone spoke of other Gods and Goddesses and a Deepest Covenant between the Light Guardian and the lesser Gods and Goddesses. Apparently, it is our job to get the shirkers to live up to their commitments to the Light Guardian."

"I don't like the idea of you and Hermione as the Light Guardian's enforcers," Ron complained.

Neither did I. Time to change the subject and get down to business. Further Quest planning needed to start with a visit to Jaden. I realised that I had no idea where Jaden was. She hadn't been at Malfoy Manor, apparently vacating the estate in advance of Narcissa's arrival.

"Do you know where I can find Jaden?" I asked Harry. "I don't have much time left to prepare for the Quest. I really need to move on from bickering to preparation. If I don't take Narcissa or Jaden as assistants, then Hermione or I need to learn Parseltongue. That will be a huge time commitment, which neither of us can afford."

"Draco told me that Jaden was temporarily living with Ostara and her parents. Neville can take us to her. He's at Hogwarts."

"Thanks, Harry. I think we really need to do this right away."

Naturally, Neville was quite happy to have an excuse to visit Ostara. He was chafing at seeing her only twice a week, including at church. Her parents liked him but didn't want their daughter rushing into anything.

I didn't mind Neville or Ostara hearing what I had to say to Jaden, but didn't want Ostara's parents listening in. Although the parents greeted us warmly, they clearly intended for all of us to sit together in their quite large sitting room. This was not the meeting I had in mind.

{{Can you do something? I don't want to discuss this in front of Ostara's parents.}}

"This involves Ministry business," Harry told Ostara's parents. If we can borrow your guest for a little while, I think we'll just take a walk with her."

Ostara's overly-protective mother objected "poor Ansara is alone in the world. She shouldn't have to be alone, when questioned by the Deputy Minister."

This puzzled me and surprise must have shown on my face.

{Ansara is the distant cousin name that Draco and Jaden agreed she should go by.}

"Your daughter could come with us, to safeguard Ansara's interests," Harry suggested.

That was agreed. Somehow, Neville also managed to come along. Ostara's father seemed a bit upset that his wife had somehow facilitated this arrangement.

"Thanks," Neville told us. "It's becoming more and more difficult to be alone with Ostara. Yes, I know you're with us. Alone means without her father."

As soon as we had walked out of sight of the house, Neville and Ostara had their arms around each other. Then we had to stop in a quiet spot, while they had a snog. I decided that this was as good a spot as any for my conversation with Jaden.

I explained to Jaden that I believed she had hidden memories from a time when Voldemort prepared her and her mother to lead a Quest. I told her I badly needed her help on my own Quest, possibly even as a Quest participant.

"That is a big surprise to me. I am a Witch out of my time and don't see myself as much use to anyone. That's why I was content to be an anonymous nanny, to a child I thought was my own great granddaughter. I'll do anything I can to help you. It's good to be needed. I once had a bright future, before I tied myself to Tom."

"It could be dangerous. Not just the Quest, even trying to unlock your memories could be dangerous. We don't know what safeguards Tom stuck in your mind to be triggered if someone tried to pry into his secrets. A mistake could kill you. I was able to unlock your daughter's mind, but I was more certain that I knew exactly the right words. For you, I just have a good guess that the words are right."

"Do it! I'm not afraid," Jaden told me. "I have less to lose than you imagine."

I didn't like the sound of that. The retreat from Malfoy Manor seemed to have really upset her. Perhaps Ostara's parents weren't much fun to live with. Why did she pick that house to live in?

I told her the phrase which had unlocked Narcissa's mind. I suggested that 'wife' might be an appropriate substitute for daughter. She appreciated the irony and thought it likely correct. I pressed her if it REALLY felt right, because we and she might get only one try. She felt good about it. She wanted to press on with the attempt. In the back of my mind I feared that she wanted to die, without having to kill herself.

I stopped dithering and just did it. Ron's guess had been correct. Jaden had a dreamy look for about ten seconds and then returned to us.

"I remember. I don't know how I could have forgotten that and still remembered so much of my link to Tom, while I was practically comatose. You are correct. I was trained to lead a Quest, although near the end of my training, Tom decided that my daughter would be the leader and I must assist her. I think that I was more qualified, but Tom decided that I was too old to be accepted by the 'inferior magical beings'. Seventeen is the normal age to lead a Quest, although Witches as old as thirty had done so in the past. I could easily pass for thirty back then. I think Tom was afraid that some God would help the 'inferior creatures' see my true age."

"This may sound like a silly question, but did Tom teach you Parseltongue."

"Yes, he did. I take it that you know you must face Apep."

"Narcissa told me that, but how did Tom know that Apep was part of the Quest itinerary?"

"He studied any account of magical circles that he or I could find, while we were Hogwarts students. He had learned that the circles power the magic. It was I who learned of Apep. Tom was always searching for spells and potions that none of his adversaries knew about. He said that a weak curse that nobody else knew could be stronger than the 'Avada Kedavra' if sprung on an adversary by surprise. He wanted them as 'weapons in reserve'. When I say that he was always searching for new magic, what I mean is that he was always pushing me to read obscure magical texts. Tom was brilliant, but apart from Parseltongue, he had no facility for other languages. I read Latin, Greek, Aramaic, and old German. I loved ancient languages. Egyptology was a big deal in the Muggle world, so I even learned to interpret some hieroglyphs. Tom found many old books for me to study. He couldn't read a word of them."

Really, that was enough to sell me. I was convinced that I had found my fifth assistant. Hermione excitedly messaged me.

No, I don't know those languages. The Light Guardian taught me modern French and German, but that's it. Some of the runic languages I studied at Hogwarts and the pyramid runes, which the Light Guardian did teach me, are like hieroglyphs, but I'm sure Jaden knows them far better than me. The only Greek I know is what I picked up from the Sirens on Lesbos. I think we need Jaden. I also think we should give her a chance to study the pyramid runes.

Jaden had stopped talking, puzzled by my far-away look. Finally, she spoke again.

"I'm not showing off to put you down, I just love old languages and runes. I also studied a little Hebrew and Sanskrit. Anyhow, the point I started to make was that in this reading, I discovered talk of magic in lands that no longer seem to have magic. One spot was Greece, and another was Egypt. India and the Himalayas also seemed promising. It was Tom who concluded that these areas must house dead circles. He reasoned the deader the circle and the greater the level of prior magic, the greater the likelihood that the circle would be on my itinerary. He ordered me to study the Gods and Goddesses of these areas. We would debate for hours which God or Goddess might be the guardian of the circle.

"I wasn't sure, but Tom was convinced that Apep was the God I would face in Egypt. I think he just liked Apep because Apep was as evil as he was. I think that now. Unfortunately, I didn't think that at the time. Perhaps that wasn't it. There were times when Tom's intuition was very incisive. It's like he had a deep intelligence somewhere in his mind, which he didn't normally use.

"Then he decided that I was too old to be an acceptable leader, but that I must assist Narcissa. At the time we presented ourselves at the cave, I had trained for three years, while Narcissa had trained for far less than one. She knew no language other than English. I was also needed on the Quest, because of my mental link to Tom. Narcissa didn't have that link."

"But it's Narcissa, not you, who has the horcrux in her head," Hermione exclaimed. "How could you have the stronger mental link."

"I don't know. Perhaps you had better check me for a horcrux. I'm willing to cooperate."

"Narcissa told me that in addition to Durmstrang and the Chamber of Secrets, that the Quest passes through the Minotaur cave on Crete and the Cave of the Sirens on Lesbos. Do you know of any other stops on the grand tour?"

"The Cave of the Sirens is not on Lesbos. I was unable to locate the exact location. I thought there was a cave inside Mount Olympus, where we must confront the greatest of the ancient Greek Gods. I was certain that we also were to travel to India and to Mexico and to Mount Sinai. I knew more than Voldemort. One of the books he brought me was a tale of an ancient Quest. It was written in Aramaic. By the time I translated that book, I had learned the value of keeping some secrets to myself. I saw no danger in telling him that the book had nothing new to tell me. In truth, it mentioned the stops in India, Mexico, and Mount Sinai. That Quest failed, so those sites were never visited. I was sure that they were still on the itinerary."

"Weren't you terrified of withholding information? Voldemort used the Cruciatus on Narcissa, when she slacked in her studies."

"He didn't dare use it upon me. Our mental link made that far too dangerous. The one time he tried it, I just blasted the sensations back at him. It was horrible. He just froze up, so the pain continued for both of us, until he regained his senses enough to stop his curse. I convinced him that I had done nothing. It was just a natural blowback caused by our link. Tom was much more careful around me after that. He rarely used our link again. The last time was in the cave, when we met with the Elf and Centaur. I was about to ask some more questions, when Tom appeared in my head telling me 'no, we're finished here. There will be no Quest.' Up to that moment, there was going to be a Quest, whether or not he had to kill the Elf and Centaur and Cruciatus the itinerary from them."

"What changed his mind?"

"The death of dark magic. Tom couldn't abide that. He just realised about that problem, when the Elf was speaking of all the lightness the Quest would produce. It was literally another worldly light. I got the distinct impression that the final stop on the Quest was not on this world."

"What? Narcissa didn't speak of that at all. Wasn't she there with you the whole time?"

"She was and she wasn't. Narcissa was in a very unhappy, beaten down, prose world at the time. The Elf had spoken only plain prose. The Centaur switched to very poetic speech, of which Narcissa merely skimmed the surface. I caught the meaning and so did Tom. The Centaur spoke of the fabled gardens of the stream of Okeanos. I knew this referred to Elysium. What's more, I knew that Elysium must be above ground. The rules of the Quest said that we may not set foot upon the surface of our world. Clearly, one of the stops would not be part of our world."

"I'm not sure that's possible," I babbled. "I, um the Muggle Minister's assistant destroyed the transporter. I don't think we can leave this world."

"Transporter?"

"It's a long story. It's the magical tool which will move us from place to place on the Quest. The Elf King told us that Harry and Ron could help us by bringing supplies to most of the stops on the Quest. You've just explained the exception."

"Dredging up these memories has given me a ferocious headache and, anyway, I don't think there is much else that I can tell you. Can we please take a break."?

"Of course. I'm so sorry. I should have asked if you were alright. Can we meet again?"

"Of course, we will meet again. I'm joining you on your Quest. I understand that you and Harry have a house. May I live with you, until we leave on the Quest?"

"Of course, you can."

I couldn't have suggested a better resolution.

Although Ostara didn't think her parents would be pleased, it was clear that she would not miss Jaden.

This was quickly confirmed, when Ostara told Jaden "it's fine. I'll explain to my Mum. I'll look in on you every day. So will Neville."

"That's a good idea, as far as it goes," Harry told us, "but with just two weeks to plan and train for the Quest, the whole Quest team and its support need to live together. Our house is too small. Cissy's castle will work. Since she must be on the Quest team, we need to involve her right away. She will need to have the most training. I know that adding Jaden puts the membership of the Quest team a little in doubt, but let's get all the likeliest together. Those who aren't chosen can still help. Ginny has a lot of volunteers. Those who don't ultimately go on the Quest can still help prepare those who do Quest."

"Honestly, I had hoped to range far and wide, before I was stuck underground for who knows how long. You remember how claustrophobic Castle Montaigne became when we were quarantined there," I pleaded against Harry's very logical proposal. I knew I was being emotional, but I wanted a last fling if I was about to plod my way along to an underground death.

"Isn't that just the point, though," Harry was not to be denied. "You want to learn which members of your team can function well together in tight quarters. You need to learn who is unable to take in all the necessary skills and knowledge. You don't want to train just the bare minimum and decide the day before the Quest that you're locked into a bad choice. Leave yourself some flexibility. There is more research than just the Questers will have time to complete amidst all the training. You need to give your team every possible advantage on the Quest. The Ministry can help. If you are taking this great risk for our whole community, then certainly the Ministry must help. We have experts in all sorts of weird subjects. We have artefacts that are beyond anyone's understanding. We have aurors who have spent decades studying and perfecting combat and negotiating strategy. Please don't waste all that expertise."

"No, I won't. I do want every chance at success. That's only fair to you and Ron. The castle is too small for what you propose. We might have to meet at the Ministry."

"Way too public. We can put up tents at the castle. Experts can be brought in for short meetings. It can work."

I was surprised and pleased at how excited Harry had become. If this grand planning and training campaign could ease my husband's fears, I was all for it.

"I agree, let's do it!" Hermione announced.

Nobody objected.

"Who should we include?" Ron asked.

"You, Harry, Neville, and Percy as support," I offered. "Narcissa, Jaden, Cissy, Victoria, Mafalda, Cho, Adrienne, Ellie, Ostara, Barb, Hermione and me, and of course Catta and Tendra. We need a Unicorn and maybe a Centaur."

"You don't need to be so limited," Ron complained. "You have to include a former enemy or rival. I'd at least include McGonagall; in case you don't want to take Narcissa. Pansy might be acceptable. I think Trelawney and Professor Sprout can at least help you to prepare your team. If you are serious about Professor Celine, despite the warning that she might make your whole team unbearably sad, at least include a trained Siren to teach her more control of her emotions. If you're including Percy, you should add Callista. She's a great researcher. Don't forget Mum. And Dad. And Luna."

"I agree," I told Ron. That was an unexpectedly wise contribution from my brother. His next contribution was also right on the mark.

"With all those people, we might as well just meet at Hogwarts. That puts us right above the Stone and the Chamber of Secrets. If you are going to rebuild the circle in the Chamber of Secrets, you're also going to need a giant spider, which means you're going to need Hagrid."

There was no objection. That is what we would do. It made sense and if it kept our husbands from worrying themselves sick, that was all to the good.