The trip to Diagon Alley was mostly uneventful. A liberal use of notice-me-not charms guaranteed that the two young girls weren't disturbed. Jasmine was quite surprised by how little the Leaky Cauldron had changed in almost fifty years. The exterior of the tiny old pub was exactly the same, although the dirty worn down facade contrasted a little less with the two old looking buildings beside it.
"Is it seriously here?" asked Violet clearly not believing that the entrance to the Wizarding World was a shabby looking pub in the middle of London.
"Yes, it is, at least the muggle entrance, most purebloods or half-bloods would simply apparate directly almost no one uses it other than muggleborns or muggle raised half-bloods." she explained while leading Violet towards the small pub. Just like the exterior, the interior of the pub looked exactly like Jasmine remembered it. It was dark and shabby, a few of the wooden tables at the corner were occupied by wizards and witches drinking or reading the newspaper. The bartender, Tom, was the biggest difference. He was already bald but he hadn't lost most of his teeth yet and he had much fewer wrinkles on his face.
The two girls approached him, Jasmine was barely tall enough to arrive at the counter but she spoke as politely as she could.
"Good afternoon, we were looking for Mr. Tom, this is our first time at Diagon Alley and we needed someone to help us open the passageway."
"Oh you have to come to the right place then, come with me." he said with a friendly smile. He led them towards the small walled down courtyard behind the bar. There, Tom took his wand and repeated the familiar patron opening the archway to the true magical world. Jasmine couldn't help but smile fondly at the nostalgic sight. It felt as if it had been ages since the last time she came to the Alley, and the look of pure wonder on Violet's eyes at seeing the Alley overflowing with people in robes and dresses that you wouldn't see in muggle London was a sight by itself. The animated shops were all there, displaying magical items that were moving and buzzing at their windows. The strange architecture that should fall down if it wasn't for the runes and enchantments holding the structures together, created a marvelous ambiance. It truly was as if they were entering a whole new world.
With a short nod and a thank you to the bartender, the two young girls finally entered their world. Violet's eyes seemed to wander all over the place trying to absorb all the everyday wonders that most wizards and witches took for granted. Jasmine couldn't help but be happy that her best friend was enjoying herself so much. Even though they had been performing magic constantly for the past four years, nothing could quite prepare you for how much magic there was in the Wizardry World. She could see a young woman followed by a levitated bag. A mannequin that moved from pose to pose showing off an exquisite emerald dress that Jasmine would have liked to use if she was older. The levitating brooms in the Quidditch store, surrounded by multicolored snitches buzzing around them. The flying planes that flew up in the sky from building to building. Truly there was no escape from the constant magic and the two girls were clearly delighted at being immersed in it.
Slowly they walked through the alley taking in every little detail. At last, they arrived at the white building at the end of the alley. They both gave a short bow with a hand on their chest to the two goblins standing guard at the entrance. They bowed in response and they opened the grand bronze doors to an elegant hallway and a set of silver doors with the poem inscribed on top of it. Jasmine felt the magic of the wards exploring her and her intentions and even though not noticeable for most she saw how Violet's eyes hardened at the invasion of her privacy. Soon they felt the magic recede and the two goblins at each side of the door bowed and then opened them, leading them to the hallway full of marble and gold.
Here, Violet was able to control herself enough to not gawk at the sights like she had done when she entered the Alley. Jasmine smiled in pride when she saw the fruits of her training. The two of them went to an open counter, and they gave a small nod to the goblin sitting behind it.
"We come to access the Potter vault." promptly said Jasmine knowing that Goblins preferred to go directly to the point.
"Do you have the key?"
"I don't, but I think this will suffice." she said, giving him her father's ring with the Potter crest that she always used. The goblin looked carefully at its interior with a loupe before nodding and returning it to her.
"It seems all is in order, Shalltear!" Another younger looking goblin quickly came from one of the numerous doors at each side of the hallway. "Lead them to vault number 784." he commanded. With a short nod, Shalltear guided them towards another door, to a stone hallway lit with orbs of light. Shalltear whistled and a small cart came in.
The trip towards Gringotts bowels was as fast and tremulous as ever. They quickly descended into the dark caverns only lit by the occasional orb of light. Soon they arrived at an old looking iron door with the Potter crest.
"Stand back!" barked the goblin, he gently stroked with two fingers the door and it melted away showing a new bronze and iron door. With a hand gesture, the goblin indicated to her to come forward. When Violet was about to descend the cart with her, the goblin blocked her path. "Only the owners of a vault can come inside." he said with a steady voice. Violet's gaze hardened into an obvious glare but she didn't comment.
Jasmine entered the vault and touched the door, immediately it melted and revealed mountains of golden, silver and bronze coins, flanking a path where at the end of it you could see a small collection of books, swords, and other artifacts. Jasmine was a bit mesmerized by the amount of gold she had. She knew that most of the Potter fortune had been used as funding for both the war against Grindelwald and the First Wizarding War. However, she had never realized how big that fortune was, it was at least fifty times the amount she had in her old vault.
Absentmindedly, she asked for a pouch from Shalltear. She quickly put around a hundred galleons inside of it, thanking the fact that it was enchanted to be bigger on the inside and feather-light. They soon took the trip back to the surface, and they quickly did their shopping. Violet insisted on picking up more books aside from the ones on the list, as she thought that after four years of tutoring, they must have seen most of their content already. None of them were surprised when once again they picked up brother wands, and they made sure they bought their uniforms in the best of materials worthy of two heiresses. Therefore, most of the hundred and thirty galleons had quickly disappeared, especially after buying two heavily enchanted trunks.
They had bought a trunk enchanted so that it had multiple compartments, with one of them able to be used as a walk-in closet. They hoped that the heavy magical trace of the trunk would be enough to confound the Trace, so that they could practice magic inside of it next summer. They would have preferred to buy one of those trunks that also worked as an apartment but they were priced at over two thousand galleons each.
Jasmine knew she had enough in her vault to allow themselves one but she wouldn't buy one until they were sure they had to stay at the orphanage. So lastly they went to the postal office where they sent a card to the Potter's account manager, to get a meeting for next week, with the hopes that the Potters had a heavily enchanted property where they could live away from any kind of visits from the muggle police. Afterward, they had to take the route toward the orphanage.
Violet was visibly pained by the fact they couldn't remain at the Alley for the rest of the days before school began. However, they both knew that two young girls living alone in a pub would be suspicious at best, downright criminal at worst. Violet also wanted to help pay for the materials, but Jasmine knew that it was better not to try to look into Slytherin's possible fortunes until the Gaunts weren't in the picture, they still were the head of the house therefore they could possibly declare Violet as a bastard and disinherit her.
Their daily routine barely changed, since Dumbledore's arrival they spent their days practicing the spells that Jasmine hadn't remembered, reading the books of witchcraft that they had almost completely neglected, and practicing dueling with a wand. Using a wand once more was a nostalgic experience for Jasmine, It was much much easier to focus her magic with the wand and she was much more efficient in the use of her magic too. Violet had actually started to laugh hysterically when she discovered how much of a burden it was to cast magic wandlessly. She actually had the problem that she frequently overpowered her spells, because she wasn't used to the idea of using a wand.
The meeting with Potter's account manager was mostly a disappointment. Other than making an audit of how much money there was in the vault, they didn't do anything productive there. The mansion Holly's grandparents had built before the First Wizarding War didn't exist yet. So the only property they had was the small house where Jasmine lived during her first few years. That house wasn't warded enough to actually hide them from the trace next year and the price the goblins asked for in order to ward it themselves was much more than they could allow themselves. For the moment they had to continue living in the orphanage. At least Jasmine got her old invisible cloak back, it was one of the objects that were kept inside the vault.
Another problem they would have to deal with was Dumbledore. Neither Violet nor Jasmine believed to actually have tricked him into believing they were nothing more than a pair of ordinary orphans. Jasmine was scandalized that he would be bold enough to try to use Legilimency in an heiress of a noble house, however, she knew that she didn't have any proof of the deed and her word would be useless. Jasmine hadn't believed that the man would have been so hostile from the beginning, although at least he hadn't burned their wardrobe this time around. They both suspected that Mrs. Cole had snitched and told him how terrifying they were. Jasmine had to calm down Violet from searching for retribution.
The night after their meeting with the Potter's accountant, Jasmine and Violet were reading their new books of witchcraft. Despite the fact that Jasmine already had done all of these potions, she would be lying if she said that she remembered everything regarding those potions she had done in her first year. She was absentmindedly reading her book when Violet suddenly spoke up.
"Jasmine?"
"Hmm."
"Do you know what you want to do at Hogwarts?" asked Violet.
"What do you mean?"
"Tomorrow we are going to return to the wizarding world and I know that you want to do more than just read books and listen to lectures that you half know already." she said looking directly into her eyes with a serious expression.
Jasmine knew what she wanted to do, she wanted to help her. She knew that the talent that Violet possessed was above what anyone else could have hoped for. The only reason she was able to keep up with her was thanks to her large magical core and her past memories. Violet seemed to be almost hardwired to understand magic, even with just her crappy lectures she was able to not only learn but also to get the subtleties that even she struggled with. That kind of intelligence had to be cultivated.
"I'm not sure, to be honest. You do?"
"Well, I'm not sure." Violet said uncharacteristically nervous. She gulped before continuing. "To be honest… my first thought; we could take over, but …" she seemed more troubled than what Jasmine had ever seen her, she took her hand trying to reassure her.
"You can tell me anything." Jasmine affirmed with conviction in her voice.
"I'm… concerned… no I'm scared, I'm scared Jasmine. That is the same thing he wanted to do, no? Taking over the magical world. I know I'm not him, I know it, you are here. But I'm scared that it is just the first step before…"
"It isn't." firmly interrupted Jasmine "He only wanted to rule over the magical world for his own twisted pleasure. I know you enough that you wouldn't even consider it unless there was a real reason. Now tell me what it is?"
Violet sighed, and with a small smile, she explained "From what you have told me about the future it seems like the muggle world will just keep getting more and more advanced. It seems like it is just a matter of time before we become unable to hide the magical world anymore. The statute of secrecy is going to fall. It isn't a matter of if but a matter of when." she looked directly into Jasmine's eyes before continuing "It would lead to a war, I have no doubts about it. From what you have told me and taught me, wizards consider that might is right. Just look at how Dumbledore acted when he arrived. Trying to invade our privacy, thinking we were unable to defend ourselves and in the memory of this encounter he used his greater prowess with magic to make a point, to intimidate Tom into submission, and he isn't the exception."
Jasmine slowly nodded understanding where this came from. "I get it, Malfoy was able to play the courts with Buckbeak trial and Hagrid was used as a scapegoat for the whole Chamber of Secrets disaster because he had giant blood, everyone knows that Acromantulas can't petrify someone. But why would that mean war with the muggles?"
"Yes, things like that showcase the problem." said Violet nodding "The issue is that not only do they think that if you are powerful enough to make you deserving of the ruling, the problem is that they don't see muggles as equals, they see them as inferior savages. Even the dad of your friend Ron who surely worked closely with them didn't understand them. He was curious about them not because he wanted to know them but because he thought they were fascinating. As if they were cute little animals." scoffed Violet. "They may not have the same powers we do, in that sense yes they are inferior to us, but they aren't any less human, any less dangerous. Last war, they killed millions and millions of their own kind. Now how do you think Muggles will react when they discover they have a rebel group that doesn't accept their authority."
Jasmine paled at those words as the dots connect between them. "They would bring us to heel." she said horrified.
"Yes, and the Wizarding World wouldn't take it kindly, they will react the only way they know how, with power." she shuddered, "It would be a massacre on both sides."
"But we will eventually lose." said Jasmine with horror.
Violet nodded solemnly. "The magical population is too small to actually win, we may kill a hundred for every one of us who dies and we still would be at a disadvantage. There is still time, they hadn't discovered the magical world by the time you died last time. We have time to prepare ourselves, to contact the muggle government, to ease our way in." argued Violet.
"And in order to do that you need to take over…."
Violet quickly interrupted to add. "Or you could do it, in fact…"
"No! I absolutely refuse. The few months I was paraded around as the symbol of a new era after Tom's death was much more than enough politics for me for at least a lifetime."
"Well in that case you are ready for another round." quipped VIolet making Jasmine groan.
"You know what I mean. I know you could do better, you are awe inspiring, and you have an aura that makes people want to follow you."
Violet smiled sweetly at those words. "Thank you for believing in me."
Jasmine sprang forward hugging her, grateful that she let her see her in her moment of vulnerability.
"I trust you with my life." she affirmed with strength in her voice "But how do you plan on getting in power in the first place. You can't claim to be the heiress of Slytherin until the Gaunts aren't here to disinherit you."
Violet shrugged. "I'm not really sure, to be honest. We will need to eventually do something about the Gaunts and your position of Heiress of the Potter family should be worth enough for at least to be heard."
Jasmine nodded while thinking over the problem. "The vast majority of the resources are in the hands of the purebloods who are generally darker. We would need to cater to them if we want to take power. At the same time, the vast majority of the population are half-bloods who are mostly divided. And at least in the nineties, only Dumbledore did lip service in favor of the muggleborns. If we want to do this not only do we need political power but popular support too. It isn't going to be a popular decision either way and if we don't do it right we will only get a coup."
Violet kept silent for a moment in thought "What if we follow Dumbledore's plan?"
"What do you mean?" asked curious Jasmine.
"Dumbledore gained political power in the United Kingdom and abroad after he vanquished Grindelwald publicly. As you said, they follow the rule of the most mighty. If we are able to do it before him, to vanquish Grindelwald before he does it, we would be able to gain that same political power." eagerly explained Violet.
"And you think we can beat him." asked Jasmine skeptically.
"Maybe not alone, but together… you were able to battle Tom last time."
"More like you were able to run cover." mumbled Jasmine.
"I'm sure that together we can do it." said Violet and Jasmine couldn't help but smile at her honest conviction.
"Ok but if you want to do this it won't be easy at all. To be able to simply trade spells with Tom I had to practice with Hermione and Susan for most of my fifth and sixth year, almost non stop. The dueling club should still be open, it closed down because of the tensions during the first war. So we should try to join it as soon as possible. Dueling isn't fighting but it is close enough and it will be good to fight people with different styles."
"Well I have always enjoyed our duels, being able to crush other people should be interesting." she said with a smirk.
