From The book of Asha
I stayed with Asha until my early adulthood, as did all of us who came to gain her knowledge. Under her patient and ever watchful eyes we honed our craft, our magic became refined and controlled. Though we knew Asha, who was never stinting in her praise of us, was looking for something more. She constantly searched for a protégé, and student who could draw their power directly from the source, as she herself did. She was searching for a predecessor.
The source, she taught us , was the power that flowed through everything in the universe, it was magic pure and wild. While we relied clumsily on wands and potions to act as a medium for magic, Asha knew how to harness the force and bend it to her will. It was this power that separated her students from her the most. For our dearest Asha was no mortal witch, no she was by far more powerful, our beloved Asha was a sorceress. Our failure to command the source from within was always the deepest shame of her students.
Alas, the golden age of magic was not to last forever. There came a time when a dark cloud fell over our way of life. It seemed that in almost the blink of an eye the non-magic people of the world lost their minds, our customs our ancient and beautiful traditions suddenly became horrible and the work of evil in their eyes. Witches and Wizards who were discovered living among muggles were persecuted and often murdered. Hundreds of thousands sought refuge with Asha on Avalon. They came in droves, there were so many that much to Asha's eternal heartbreak she had to begin turning them away from her palace, that is how it came to be that Avalon's first towns and cities sprung up.
Asha grew weary, the students, those of us who knew her best sensed her turmoil. The kings who had once sought her wisdom and humbled themselves before her, turned away from her. They strayed from her advice, with disastrous consequences. The muggles began killing each other in the name of God. The force was unsettled. The earth shook and rumbled at it's core, a plague was cast down upon the muggle people which killed their children, wives, thieves and princes indiscriminately. Misery abounded. And try as she could, Asha could not stop it.
The elder students met in one of the gardens for our lesson one spring morning, now I recall it as to be our last lesson, though none of us knew it then. After considerable searching we found our dearest teacher, curled up on the grass sobbing as an injured child or heart broken lover does. We gathered around her, embracing her and comforting her, trying our best to heal her with our unfailing love. She stood weakly, and turned to face me. Asha stared me straight in the eye, a look which pierced the very core of my being. I stood entranced by her gaze for what seemed like an eternity. finally she broke the moment by speaking. " I never could have imagined this heartbreak. I never knew that all my work would come to this desperate ruin." Then she turned and left us alone. We stood silent in the garden for many hours, our heads lowered contemplating the gravity of the situation. For you see this is the first we knew that Asha was fallible.
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Charlotte Wildsmith re-adjusted her grip on Snapes' hand. She could hardly see through her tears. She raised that pale hand to meet her lips, she kissed it tenderly, foolishly hoping that her kiss would bring some trace of warm back to those hands. Her mind ached, her soul was weary. She had exhausted every potion she knew used every charm and chant she could imagine, yet to no avail. All she could do was put it in the hands of the old one. Yet Ashsa and her gifts seemed to have abandoned Charlotte in her greatest need.
" Please, " She whispered, " Please don't take him away, not yet, I'm not ready to give him up yet." She breathed deeply to keep from sobbing again.
A pretty nurse opened the door and poked her head in. " Any luck?" She asked.
Charlotte shook her head remorsefully.
The nurse bit her lip thoughtfully, then opened the door and stepped fully inside. " It may not be much consolation, but I think just your being here, it helps him. The days when you are here, he sleeps more peacefully, we have and easier time feeding and bathing him."
Charlotte managed a small smile. " Well thank heaven for small mercies. But I just wish there was something else I could do. I'm sure there is, I know deep down inside me there is an answer, but it just wont come…it's so frustrating, I feel like he is slipping away from me every minute that he lies here."
The nurse blushed " Would you tell me, if you don't mind me asking, is he your….well you lover?"
Charlotte almost laughed out loud in spite of her self. " No, he was, is, it's a little hard to explain. But my mother, she loved him very much. And…."
" Yes?"
She swallowed and prepared to share some information she hadn't even been able to say out loud to herself " I….That is to say that I ……I have reason to believe, that this man is my father."