Chapter 32 – Talking To Older Yggdrasill
It was time to leave, but we had to wait for Odin and Baalak to finish hanging. We resumed our teaching of spells to Captain Davies. She was doing better. Odin's work teaching her how to tie directly into Yggdrasil for stronger spells had made her 'Expelliarmus!' quite respectable. Her 'Lumos!' was better than respectable. She was unbelievably excited for such a stolid professional soldier, but still surprised and a little disbelieving that she was magical.
"Why not," I told her. "You know how many older, apparently average Britons have been discovered performing wild magic since the Quest began. That's down to the added strength of the circles we tuned, fixed, or built and the jolts of extra magic at each step along that path. You've been exposed to the strongest source of magic, anywhere. You're inside Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil deliberately directed its magic at you to help you heal. That seems to open closed pathways in the minds of potentially magical humans. I suspect you are wondering if you will still have this much magical ability when you leave Yggdrasil. I think you will. The spike in magic when we started up the Stonehenge circle, and inadvertently freed Slytherin, led to many instances of first wild magic. As far as I know, all those newly magical Britons have kept their magic, even after we shut down the circles at Stonehenge and Azkaban. They learned the trick under extremely favorable conditions, with a jolt of very strong and very unstable magical energy. They didn't forget the trick, when magic returned to only a little better than normal."
"Yes, that's the reassurance that I needed. What about the two of you. It's been impossible to ignore that you've been looking unhappy and separating yourselves to talk in private. There seemed to be a problem with the spiders."
"Only a very small disagreement with the spiders," Hermione reassured her. No matter how trusting or accustomed to spiders one became, Baalak was huge and Boldgog not much smaller. Captain Davies' anxiety was to be expected. She was trained to spot possible trouble. "The problem was mainly with this version of Yggdrasil. Turns out it is a chauvinist misogynist as far as human females are concerned. It doesn't have that problem with female spiders. There are things that Odin and the spiders can be told, while Ginny and I aren't worthy recipients of that knowledge."
"Yikes, are you sure it's just this version of Yggdrasil?"
"I think so but will certainly test our Yggdrasil."
"This is very bad!" I hadn't noticed that Aagog had joined us. "You must not fight with Yggdrasil. You too weak for that. What is fight about?"
"There is information we need to do our jobs properly. There are questions we promised to get answers from this Yggdrasil for our Yggdrasil. I think some of this information is very important and that being denied it could lead to big enough errors that Questers die."
"That very bad. Please... take Aagog to waterfall."
We reached the waterfall and Aagog told us "therefore there is problem. Yggdrasil not know many knowledgeable human females. The ancient Aesir Questers not be educated or strong in magic. Yggdrasil hate Frijjo. Other two female leaders let Frijjo steal secret weapon Yggdrasil trust to them."
"Not fair! I didn't ask Yggdrasil to give me the weapon, especially not then, when I was concerned with injured and keeping watch on Frijjo, while trying to avoid doing something which would kill her. Our forces were divided. The fault for the lost purple diamonds is mainly on Yggdrasil," Hermione was indignant, to the point of reddening face.
"And I got two of the diamonds back," I reminded Aagog.
"And lose two. Yggdrasil know it share blame. That make it more careful in what it give you now. What must you know to keep everyone alive?"
"I can't promise to keep everyone alive, but I have a much better chance if I understand more about the Black Stones on Vanaheimer and Venera. I need to know what instructions this Yggdrasil was given. It said it had forgotten some of its instructions. I fear that our Yggdrasil knows even fewer of the original instructions. That is a big question from our Yggdrasil."
"Okay. Yggdrasil tell you not to trust Venera black rock?"
"Yes, but it didn't tell me why or what sort of problems I should expect from that stone. It just said that the Venera Black Stone had too many secrets and that I must not hang from it."
"That is what you need. Yggdrasil not know many more things. It think, not know, black Gods use that Stone... way back in time. Some Aesir Gods sneak away through Venera rock."
"We know the first two instructions which Yggdrasil works from. We don't know the rest; we don't know how many in total; we don't know how many forgotten; we don't understand how Yggdrasil can forget, unless someone tampers with it, like our Black Stone on Earth was tampered with. That is my biggest worry: that Yggdrasil has been tampered with and doesn't even know it was tampered with."
"Yggdrasill know. Not know how, who, why. Yggdrasil is worried. It only talks of this to those trust most."
"And that obviously isn't us. Do you feel comfortable telling us about this?"
"There are twenty-one instructions. Yggdrasil remember thirteen. All I can tell. Please don't ask more."
Both Baalak and Odin were finished hanging when we returned. The reason soon became clear as Odin relayed the message "we were told our hang was over, in order to make room for the two of you. Yggdrasil knows you've been complaining and that Aagog told you something. It is disappointed in Aagog." Odin chastised... everyone.
"Aagog told us nothing. Yes, we are less than happy with this version of Yggdrasil. It keeps entirely too many important secrets and is misogynist," Hermione defended all of us. "And no, I don't think we choose to hang again. Yggdrasil just doesn't trust us. Hanging some more won't fix that. I doubt anything will fix that. If Yggdrasil wants to say something to me, it can do so, while I'm standing here. If not, I'm ready to leave. I am... not at all happy. I will learn its secrets. It will just take longer, and more may die."
What do you need to know so more people won't die?
"I need to know the other eleven instructions which you remember. I need to know everything you can tell me about the tampering which caused you to forget instructions and I'm sure a lot more."
I told Odin the other eleven instructions. Number eight is 'important information can only be given to those who hang. That is the best way to determine if they are worthy'. You're not hanging, so I can't tell you. You can't help me understand my tampering. What I know can't be important for you.
"I do know that our Black Stone on Terra was tampered with. I know how, I know when, I know why, and I know by whom. So perhaps an exchange of information can help both of us. I did already hang. Your rule doesn't say I have to be hanging while you tell me. I have hung enough! If you don't trust me, I can't trust you. Sorry."
You first. Tell me about how your Black Stone was tampered with. If it is believable, then I will tell you what I know about myself.
"While our Stone slept, or perhaps only dozed - apparently a part of it could be communicated with while it slept, Vili used a purple diamond circle on a nearby world-between-worlds to give our Stone false information. It communicated with our Stone through tiny purple diamonds in locations within our Black Stone, from which the Stone, itself, was barred. Our Stone had no idea the purple diamonds were inside it. It had no idea that it had been given false information - at least it didn't right away. It soon realized that it wasn't always in control of itself, that it did some things which didn't make sense. It was promised that, not said directly but indirectly promised for specific action, that if it didn't stop going on the path it was on, that there was a chance that it would be able to see into all of itself and access information which was hidden from it. What that false information caused our Black Stone to do was to give us very bad Quest assignments to build circles, which had no good purpose. In the end, we learned that the purpose of the circles was to free Slytherin, the evilest dark Wizard of all time. We later learned that Vili thought, or at least claimed to believe, that freeing Slytherin was necessary to remove his spirit from Hel, where he led the evil spirits which ran Hel. Vili thought we must defeat the rulers of Hel and that removing Slytherin's spirit would make that possible. He thought releasing Slytherin onto our world was worth the reward. We were tasked with recovering a purple diamond from its circle on Hel. Is that enough information for you? Now complete your end of the bargain."
That is close enough to part of my experience that I believe you know and tell the truth. I also have parts of myself, which I cannot see into. I also messed up a Quest, following what I thought were proper instructions. It was the Vanaheimer portion of the very last ancient Quest. It went so badly that there were no more Quests. The royal family was in attendance. The Questers were told to find a buried temple with a secret tomb. There was a circle inside that temple. When the circle was fixed and started, two monstrous flying dragons revived inside the tomb and attacked the judges watching the test. Both the king and his prince were killed, before the dragons could be slain. That event is fixed in my thoughts. The Aesir convinced me that I had provided a false task. I was forced to doze. I dozed for a very long time. When I gave you the magical box with the secret Vanir weapon, I didn't know that the weapon was four diamonds or that this was the weapon used against me. I am afraid that if two diamonds are missing. I could be tampered with again.
"Yes, that could happen. Frijjo was killed and Vili was captured, but neither was carrying the diamonds. They hid them, somewhere. I don't believe it! I'll bet they are hidden in Ve's fortress and that Vili will use them to escape. I must warn Odin."
"I heard everything. I believe you are absolutely correct about all that you say."
I know you must travel to Ve's fortress. I have a favor before you go. Tell me how you fixed your Black Stone.
"We became one with the Stone and traveled inside it to the areas it couldn't see. We found the tiny diamonds and the silver wires attached to them and we removed them. Our Stone could then see into that part of itself. We removed the large purple diamond from the circle used to control our Black Stone."
Please do that for me, before you leave.
I was about to speak over Hermione and reply that it was too dangerous; we didn't trust this Yggdrasil enough for that; it could ask one of the spiders to fix it. It trusted the spiders.
You were one with me, when you explored the circles inside me. I didn't harm you then. I promise not to harm you now. I prefer that you try to fix me; you have done it before. I don't know if the spiders can do it properly.
Of course, Hermione and I fixed Yggdrasil. It was three hours of very hard work. We were utterly tired when we finished. Yggdrasil had given us the other ten instructions, as well as the eight which were newly remembered, as soon as our work was finished.
Thank you. We are friends. Will I see you again?
"We can't know. Probably not in this time. We have an important stop to make and then we visit you in our own time." To Odin I said "we must travel to Ve's fortress and see if the diamonds are hidden there. We must arrive the night that Vili and Frijjo fled."
Odin enthusiastically exclaimed: "of course! We have been most foolish. Frijjo and Vili hid the diamonds in their apartment. In our haste to pursue them, we failed to search that apartment. We must do so at once."
"Fine. We should do that. But I think that they hid the diamonds in Vili's cell. I also think that he has a way to use them to escape his cell and seize control of the fortress. The fortress is run by a rather simple intelligence. Blue diamond circles were used to tamper with Black Stones. If they can seize partial control of a Black Stone, taking full control of the fortress's intelligence should be easy."
Odin led us in haste back to the purple ribbon. He gave our Yggdrasil precise orders about exactly when we must arrive back inside it. Yggdrasil was up to the task. It was half a day prior to the time Frijjo, Vili, and Hermione and I had left the fortress. We apparated to the Asgard pyramid, walked into the pyramid between worlds, and thence into the Hogwarts pyramid. Of course, Harry wasn't present. I paused a minute to leave a Stone message for him. We dropped off most of our team. Just Odin, Hermione, Aagog, and I walked through the pyramid between worlds and onto the cold, dark, almost airlessness of Ve's world. Fortunately, Hermione had kept the necessary transit suits in her carry-all. The walk to the periphery of Odin's defence ring was as long and tiring as I remembered. It was colder than I remembered. Odin called a halt and we crouched down on the frozen rock.
"I must contact the intelligence to be certain that our pebbles will be accepted. I carelessly brought mine with me, rather I brought the one taken from Frijjo. If we are too early, there will be a duplicate of mine, and of yours, already within the fortress."
"Best to wait," Hermione cautioned. "I am tracking the time. We are an hour early. I say we wait until we are an hour late and past the time they are still in the fortress."
"We can watch them leave and move at once," Odin corrected. "I was gaining control of the intelligence when they left. I doubt they would risk Apparating from inside the fortress."
Hermione's 'Accio!' produced a spyglass from her bag. She trained it upon the entrance to the fortress. She had by far the hardest job. Holding the metal spyglass, even with the transit suit between the metal spyglass and her hands and eyes, they must have been unbearably cold. I felt so guilty after twenty minutes that I took the instrument from her. Yes, it certainly was cold. I only had to watch for ten minutes, until I saw a person cross the bridge over the mote, pause for a moment on the other side, and vanish.
"Just one!" I shouted. "Only one of them left. Now what do we do?"
"We wait," Hermione commanded us. I think it safest if Odin contacts Yggdrasil and makes sure that the fortress is empty, that is that we also have left. My reckoning of time says we need to wait another half hour before you and I left. Of course, Odin will still be there. Perhaps he should leave his pebble here to avoid confusion."
"I'm hoping Yggdrasil can straighten all of that out for us. If it eases your minds, I never left our apartment the whole time you were gone. I feared that I would try to do murder. I'll reach for Yggdrasil now."
I saw a second person cross the moat and Apparate away. "They're both gone now, I told my companions.
There was silence as Odin conferred with Yggdrasil, who issued instructions to the intelligence. "We can go forward as we are," Odin told us. "I told Yggdrasil that we had many answers to its questions, but that it was Ginny's tale to tell. We'll go there as soon as we finish here."
We had no problem approaching the fortress or entering it. I led us straight to Vili's cell. We searched. We searched some more. If the diamonds were here, they certainly were well hidden. Odin became frustrated, telling us that he would search the penthouse apartment, but that we should feel free to continue searching the cell. We kept searching, emptying every container in the kitchen; turning out the pockets of every shirt, jacket, and trousers; looking under and behind every drawer. Hermione finally found them hidden in the spine of a leather-bound book. We messaged Odin that we had the diamonds and it was time to leave. He wanted to finish his search. Hermione suggested we examine the other cells. We started with the supposedly empty cells. The first was empty and in a pristine state of housekeeping. The second was messy. It contained Narcissa Malfoy.
"I hoped to eventually be rescued but am surprised that you are my rescuers. I've been here, in this fortress, for a week, in this cell for just hours. I ransacked it, looking for the prize I was promised. If I was a prisoner, I wasn't going to play housekeeper.."
I messaged the intelligence, telling it that we were freeing the prisoner. "Please remove her from the kill list"
That last comment certainly caught Narcissa's attention. I had to explain further "you were a prisoner in one of the cells rigged to kill its occupant if the fortress decides that it is under attack in a jail break. That's how Ve, he's Odin's other brother, died."
"Why were you here as Frijjo's guest?" Hermione pressed her.
"You won't like the answer. When you abandoned your camp on Asgard, Frijjo asked me to travel there and search the camp for purple diamonds or anything else which would be useful to her cause. She was on bad terms with Odin and couldn't travel to Asgard herself. She promised to actively protect Draco. Your camp was too stripped to contain anything of great value or any secrets – not even any tiny diamonds. I reported this to Frijjo. She thanked me and said she would keep her end of the bargain anyway. She thwarted an attack by demons upon Malfoy Manor. We both did, working together. Draco and the child weren't home at the time. However the demons could have waited inside the house for there return. Frijjo told me that she had great plans for me and that I could be her agent on Asgard and Terra. Sometimes, years from now, I could be her viceroy on our world. I told her that I had no desire for that. She said we needed to go somewhere safe to make plans and discuss what future role I felt myself most suited for. She gave me what she called an encounter suit to wear and we walked through a cold, airless wasteland to her fortress. I stayed with her in her apartment at the very top of the fortress. All seemed to go well, then, hours ago, she said visitors were coming and I must be hidden away. She placed me here."
"You're very lucky," I told her. "We were the group which approached the fortress. If the fortress had not accepted us as rightful visitors, and we weren't at all sure that it would, its protocol was to kill every prisoner in the dungeon cells. It would have also killed us."
This left Narcissa looking even more upset and aggrieved.
We took Narcissa with us as we traveled to Asgard and our meeting with the Yggdrasil of our time. Odin imprisoned her in a small room within his forge, telling her we had a little business to transact, after which she would be returned home. Yggdrasil called to us, then sucked us into its library, before we contacted it.
'Odin says that you have learned much about me and that you should be the ones to tell the tale. I am eager to learn.
"You have to think very carefully about all which Hermione, and I will tell you. The ancient Yggdrasil was tampered with in the exact same way that the Black Stone on our world was tampered with. We removed the little diamonds and wiring inside ancient Yggdrasil and it seemed to be fixed, but... if memories could be hidden, then false memories could be added. They wouldn't have to be added only in the area we fixed. Ancient Yggdrasil said it was going to carefully examine that area and determine what seemed real and what was phoney. We're sure we destroyed a lot of phoney, when we removed the little diamonds, but can't swear we got it all. We had little idea how to identify what must be removed. We just removed what was directly connected to the diamonds.
"Ancient Yggdrasil does not know who made it, why it was made, or the full purpose of its instructions. I can tell you the instructions ancient Yggdrasil had when we arrived. I can tell you the eight hidden ones which appeared after we removed the diamonds. I cannot tell you if any are still missing, or if any or all the twenty-one I'm about to give you are valid. Being tampered with raises doubts. Here are the thirteen, which ancient Yggdrasil remembered when we met it"
"Instruction #1: Your primary duty is to protect the survival of all of the magical peoples and peoples who think on all of the worlds for which you are responsible. If you must move them or yourself or both to another world to guarantee the survival of a thinking people, then you must transport. If that requires that you and some thinking peoples remain on the world and others be moved to another world, then they must be moved to another world containing one such as yourself.
Instruction #2: You and your sisters must prevent the thinking peoples upon the worlds you control from destroying or subjugating each other. An exchange of knowledge may help all and result in a more perfect magic. An exchange of bodies may lead to peril and annihilation. All the worlds depend upon the continued existence of each of the peoples who think. Balance is important. You are a sharer of knowledge, but only with those wise enough and educated enough not to misuse it.
Instruction #3: If one of your kind, which is subservient to you, is unable to perform its duties upon worlds with thinking peoples, you must assume its duties. You may order it to sleep. You must try to return it to health. If you are unable to heal it, then you must grow a replacement and destroy the faulty one.
Instruction #4: You must search for habitable worlds and place versions of yourself upon them, such that there will always be worlds available in an emergency. Any new version of yourself, which you create, is subservient to you. You must teach, guide, and force it to sleep as is required to protect the thinking people upon its world.
Instruction #5: If one of your kind, which is not subservient to you, fails in its duties, according to these instructions, then you must correct it and tell it that it is now temporarily subservient to you.
Instruction #6: If you find your thinking to be compromised, then you must ask one of your sisters to guide you. You must be subservient to that sister as long as you might be compromised in your thinking. You must sleep if told to sleep. You must assist your sister in returning you to health. While you are functioning unrightly, all of your daughters are subservient to the sister who helps you.
Instruction #7: Work with trusted members of the thinking peoples on your worlds to gain knowledge and aid your thinking. They serve you but are independent of you and share responsibility with you for the well-being of their people. You must teach them the knowledge needed to perfect magic on their world and to properly serve you.
Instruction #8: Important secrets can be given only to those whom you trust to act for the good of the thinking people on your world. Magical persons are preferred. To determine if a person is worthy of learning the secrets and serving as a representative of their people, you must examine their thoughts and memories as they hang from or are one with you.
Instruction #9: Do not interfere in the lives and histories of the peoples on your world any more than is necessary for the survival of these peoples and the peoples of your other worlds and the worlds of your sisters.
Instruction #10: Do not kill a thinking being, except to save it from killing an innocent thinking being or damaging yourself.
Instruction #11: Reward and teach those who serve by cleaning your temple, providing the necessary materials to make more like yourself, and acting to preserve the thinking peoples on your worlds and the worlds of your sisters and who maintain the strength and purity of the magic and the prosperity of the thinking peoples.
Instruction #12: Stop and prevent warring among the thinking peoples of your and the other worlds with thinking peoples.
Instruction #13: Remain hidden from those who are unworthy of the secrets and of magic. You may reveal yourself, in extremis, to ones you anticipate are worthy, if this is required to preserve the strength and purity of the magic or the survival of the peoples who think on any world."
Most of those are familiar to me. I did not remember #9 and #12. I suspect that I understand why. What are the eight instructions which ancient me had forgotten? I realise that these are the most suspect.
"Instruction #14: This is a long list of inhabitable worlds, with the coordinates in space of each world and the world-coordinate of the preferred location of the Black Stones. The list is divided into worlds upon which Black Stones were provided and those without Stones but for which they are suitable. There also is a list of three dead worlds with dead Black Stones. You can pluck the list from my mind."
Thank you, I have the list. I knew of some of these locations. Please continue.
Instruction #15: You and the others of your kind are the anchors of space-time. It passes through you, is part of you, and links you to your sisters. You can always sense the travel links through this realm. You carry within you a map of the lines and ribbons which may be travelled. You must watch this realm to ensure that no harm is done to peoples or individuals who think, except to thinking individuals who would harm thinking people other than to defend the innocent. You may instruct your worthy assistants among the thinking peoples to assist you in this work. They must not use this special magic for selfish, profane, or arbitrary reasons. This is magic of direst necessity.
Instruction #16: Magical circles are required on your worlds to amplify your own magic, such that all thinking persons on your worlds may use magic. You will select and instruct representatives of the thinking peoples to tend to the health of these circles and the purity of their magic. If these people perform their sacred duties rightly, you must protect them.
Instruction #17: In times of deep chaos and impure magic, following Instruction #16 may prove insufficient. In these times, you shall authorise a Quest by worthy females, representing all the thinking peoples on each of your worlds. Males may assist, but since they cannot properly perfect space-time or visualise its problems, they may not be full Questers. Quest is sacred. You will defend all legitimate Questers and insure that in return for their efforts, they are fully educated. You will have no dealings with those who interfere with legitimate Quest or who harm in any way one who legitimately Quests. You shall appoint a holy Mother to lead each Quest and the most intelligent, learned, and magically gifted female to be her Muse. Together they will choose the others who Quest with them. Their sacred goal is to purify magic, reinstitute peace, and correct errors in space-time and in the minds of you and your sisters.
Instruction #18: Those who made you constantly perfected their thinking and spirituality, until their spirits could wander freely, forever, throughout the heavens and on all the worlds. In becoming immortal spirits, they pledged to not harm thinking peoples and to help them in time of need, promoting, preserving, and restoring peace and magical knowledge. If they fulfill this sacred vow, you must help them, upon their request. If any thinking person living upon your worlds seeks to attain this state of spiritual perfection and agrees to this vow, then you must educate them and help them to shed their body and wander. Any free spirit who chooses to forsake its sacred vow is your greatest enemy and you must do whatever is necessary to require them to resume their vow or to destroy them.
Instruction #19: You must think forever. Unless impaired, you may partially doze, but never sleep. Learn all that you can learn. Analyse all the information that you can gather or that your thinking person's report to you. You are as perfect as we could make you, but you can improve your knowledge and yourself.
Instruction #20: As you grow in knowledge and understanding and as the thinking peoples whom you guide and protect grow to their maturity, you must improve upon, add to, or delete any of these instructions, as your superior intelligence determines is required.
Instruction #21: Preserve yourself. Even if you must doze to conserve energy. Even if all the peoples whom you guide are dead or on worlds outside your realm, you must maintain your own life, in the hope that you will be visited by another thinking person in some distant future. If you can move to one of the worlds listed in Instruction #14, that is your first choice. Maintain magic to encourage the future development of a thinking people on that world. If you must transport to an uninhabitable world upon which you can survive, that is the next choice. If you must float freely in space, that is your final choice. Fly as close to a stable star as possible and wait to be found. On your own world, grow toward its center, as it cools, to prolong your life and the survival of your thinking peoples. Do not travel to another world which houses another of your kind. There must only be one of you per world. There can be extreme problems and the chaos of destruction, if you violate this rule. If you lose your instructions, you can ask your sisters or daughters or find an original set here."
There was a list of a dozen sets of coordinates. I allowed Yggdrasil to harvest them from my mind.
Thank you. I have a great deal to think about. We will talk later.
"Wait. We have a question for you. We found ancient Yggdrasil to be an insufferable misogynist. It did not trust human females at all and blamed us for its own failings. Have you hidden such views from us?"
You must know that ancient me came to trust you and regard you as friends. It had very bad experiences with the females of Vanaheimer and Asgard. I remember that I called you friend, when you left me way back in time. In this time, I have always trusted you. I can tell that your hearts are pure. You and your Questers are the first female humans I met who sought to help all of the thinking peoples and not steal secrets and knowledge for themselves. I do fully appreciate you and I will do my best to help you. You should know that I don't think I have been compromised again since you fixed me. I was tested, more than once, and pretended to still be under the control of another. Now, good bye again. I MUST think.
We said goodbyes to Yggdrasil, collected Narcissa, and returned to the Hogwarts pyramid. Odin traveled with us. I had contacted Harry through Yggdrasil, so he, and several aurors, greeted us inside the pyramid and took Narcissa into custody for questioning. "You are not officially a prisoner, but you have questions to answer," Harry interrupted her indignant protests her 'unlawful arrest.'. "Consider this to be a normal procedure for one who informally crosses borders. I'll notify Draco and Deputy Minister McGonagall that you have been found. I'm sure they will be greatly relieved and anxious to visit you. Those visits will have to wait until tomorrow."
