I'm so sorry! I couldn't update last night because I was working on a final paper! And this morning, they cut all electricity in the dorms and the whole school, and only now I remembered I had to post this! So, I'm very, very sorry, here is the latest chapter.
Chapter 26. Revelations
So much seemed to change in the following week, and yet at times it seemed like nothing really had. As it turned out Naoko wasn't only related to Albus, but also to Minerva, her maternal aunt (who she'd never really known) had been Albus's wife and Natasha's mother. Albus had been too shocked the first time someone had asked him what had happened to Natasha after Naoko had been left with the Yanagisawas, and no one had dared ask again since, deciding that it wasn't worth it hurting the aged wizard further, since it was already pretty obvious the woman wasn't there.
The next Sunday the Sorcerers took the day off again; they had spent the whole week very much like the first two since their return from China, pouring over texts, looking for a way to take down the Ministry, or at least get them off their backs.
Sakura had been hoping to go out with her husband for the day, since they were married, off-age and had assumed the Head of the Li Clan they didn't have to remain at Hogwarts during the weekends, and while most of the time they still did, the situation allowed them to visit Eriol's manor to search in the books there, and have dates other than in Hogsmeade, or at least that was what Sakura had been hoping, only Shaoran seemed to be too 'far away' mentally and emotionally in that moment.
"Are you alright, Shaoran-koi?" Sakura asked as she embraced him from a side.
"It's the twenty sixth today…" Shaoran said in a low voice, as if that should explain it.
"Yeah…" Sakura was thinking hard, but still had no idea what he was talking about.
"It's Meiling's birthday." Shaoran finally said after a few minutes of silence.
Sakura closed her eyes in though as she laid her head against Shaoran's chest; she'd noticed during the Winter Break that Meiling no longer seemed to be living at the Li Manor, or even in Hong Kong for that matter, and yet, so much had happened during those weeks that she'd never gotten around asking anyone why exactly Meiling wasn't around, where she'd gone, what had happened to her.
"No one would have been able to answer you, because no one truly knows." Shaoran told her quietly, soberly.
It took a couple of seconds for Sakura to realize she'd been talking out-loud, and Shaoran had heard her, she blushed before turning to her husband, questions in her eyes even before the words left her mouth.
"What do you mean no one knows?" She tried to summarize all the questions running rampant through her mind in that moment.
"Just that." Shaoran answered. "I don't know if you've noticed this, but I'm older than anyone else in our year here in Hogwarts."
"You will turn nineteen in May." Sakura acknowledged. "While some people, like Neville-san and Harry-kun are still seventeen, and won't turn eighteen until the summer. The one closest to your age is Hermy-chan, and she won't turn nineteen until the Fall."
"Exactly." Shaoran nodded. "In her case, she's older than the others because her birthday is after the beginning of the school-year here, it's the same reason why I ended up in your grade in Tomoeda, my birthday is in May, when our school-year begins in April. Here it is different, here as long as you are the right age before the first of September you would be in that year."
"Which means you should have been a seventh year when you came last year." Sakura said thoughtfully. "You would have already graduated by now."
"Actually, it means I should have come to Hogwarts a year earlier than I actually did. I remember I told you Lis usually attended Hogwarts for at least a year; while that is officially true, the fact is most of us come for two, sixth and seventh year. It is recommended for all members of our clan, but particularly those of us who are expected to hold important positions in the Eastern Council, to be accredited in all forms of magic, wand-magic included."
"So, if you should have come to Hogwarts a year earlier, why didn't you?"
"Meiling."
"Meiling? I don't understand. I mean, I know she's your cousin and all that. I think she once told me you used to be engaged but…"
"She's my cousin, yes, and it is true we were betrothed once, but it was never a matter of official record. I seriously doubt the Council would have allowed her to be my wife, regardless of any promises I may have made when I was a child."
"Because she doesn't have any magic."
"That, and because the Elders see her as a bastard-daughter."
"What…?" Sakura was totally shocked by that.
Shaoran sighed tiredly, he really hated clan politics some times, but Sakura, if anyone, deserved to know, not only because she was his wife and Co-Head of the Li Clan, but also because Meiling was her friend, friend to them both. Shaoran had always felt he owed her so much, his cousin had been a great help in realizing that he truly loved Sakura, and while their betrothal might never have been exactly official, Shaoran took all his promises seriously, which is why he'd appreciated when Meiling had released him from that promise so he could pursue a relationship with Sakura. And even after their 'relationship' had ended, Meiling had always been there, for him and Sakura both.
With another sigh Shaoran pulled Sakura away from the window he'd been standing by and to the comfortable love-seat before the fire, they were in their private sitting-room, which connected to their bedroom in the Sorcerers' Apartments.
"You never knew this, because Meiling was already gone when we went to China on December, and before that, when you visited in Elementary School we both were too young to really pay attention to much that didn't directly concern us." Shaoran explained.
"And we were a bit busy with a crazy spirit-woman trying to kill us all." Sakura added, remembering their little 'adventure' during her first visit to Hong Kong.
"That as well." Shaoran admitted, then went back to what was really important. "You know Meiling is a Li, and she's my cousin, what you don't know is that she didn't get that name from her father, but her mother, who was my father's younger sister. While usually that wouldn't be that much of a deal, it's likely that almost anyone who married my aunt would have had to take the Li name, unless they were from a particularly influential clan. The thing is, there was no husband, my aunt never married…"
"But…" Sakura was trying to process that information, its implications, but it was hard.
"No one knows everything that happened back then, not even my mother I must admit." Shaoran told her. "It is known that my aunt left Hong Kong for a while, to travel around the world. My father had been Head of the Li Clan for a while by then, with four daughters already yet no heir. Also, from what I know, there had been several marriage proposals for my aunt but she'd convinced my father to decline them all for her. As the sister of the Head of the Li Clan she held great power, which many wanted, but she didn't like that. In the end my father allowed her to leave for a while, with the promise that she would keep in touch and return eventually." He shook his head before going on. "She returned right after my birth, a month pregnant and with no husband. Even when my parents tried to convince her of revealing who the father of her baby was, assuring her they would make sure he would do right by them and marry her, she refused. Even when the Elders began pressuring her, some even insulting her behind her back (because they didn't dare say anything when my father could hear) the name of the man never left my aunt's lips. Some say she was probably raped, others that she was acting as a mistress, you can imagine all the slander they threw against her. But in the end it was useless, because she was still the sister of the Head of the Li Clan, and a direct descendant on our Honorable Line, so they couldn't actually disown her. In fact my father made sure they wouldn't be able to do that, even when he was gone…"
Sakura embraced her husband again, she knew how hard it was for him to talk about his father's death, even when he couldn't actually remember that time, he knew everything perfectly well. Xiao-Leng Li had been a hero, one who lost his life making sure the Western Dark Lord wouldn't be able to gain a hold on the Eastern Lands. He'd died when Shaoran was still an infant.
"When my father died, the Elders didn't allow my aunt to take his place as leader of the Clan, even though it was her place as the sister of the former Head." Shaoran commented. "They used her position as an unwed mother, and threatened with disowning her child if she insisted, so she didn't, but instead, she made sure my mother got the position, and that the Elders wouldn't be able to take it from her until I was eighteen and ready to take the position myself. My aunt was happy to be an advisor and raise Meiling."
Sakura nodded, she understood the complexities of the situation back then, though that didn't mean she liked it, not in the slightest, she at least understood…mostly. That didn't explain where Meiling was in that moment, though.
"That still doesn't explain where Meiling might be now." Sakura dared point out.
"True." Shaoran nodded before ruffling his own hair with a sight. "That's a bit more complicated. You see, almost three years ago I was getting ready to come to Hogwarts, to study sixth and seventh year as was tradition. Meiling had been complaining something fierce for several days already because she wouldn't be able to accompany me to Hogwarts. Also, by that point, though most of the Elders still acted derisively with both her and my aunt, Meiling had earned the respect of many members of the most powerful clans in the council with her prowess in martial arts and swordsmanship."
Sakura smiled, that was Meiling alright, she could still remember when she had fought against the possessed penguins during one of Eriol's tests, back when they were in elementary school, in Tomoeda.
"She was also secretly training to be my Chief Advisor when I took over the mantle of Head of the Li Clan and the Western Council." Shaoran added. "The Elders would try to challenge me on that matter, but in the end they would lose, and I thought it would be a fitting way to give her and my aunt back the honor they'd lost."
Sakura's smile brightened, and that was her husband alright, always trying to help others as much as he could, and always worrying so much about the 'honor' too…
"I spent most of that summer trying to convince Meiling that everything would be alright, that our plans wouldn't change even if I had to go to Hogwarts for a year or two." Shaoran went on. "I would still take the mantle of Head after I graduated, and she would be my Chief Advisor, no matter what the Elders thought about that. But then, about halfway through August, right when I was about to take a plane to England to get everything in order, get my books, uniform and such, Meiling and her mother just vanished." He shook his head. "The night-guard said they'd left right before dawn, my aunt convinced him that she had important business to attend to, along with her daughter. Regardless of the vile things the Elders might spout about my aunt, most of the Clan, and the Council in general still has a degree of respect for her, so the guard never even considered doubting her, just let her and Meiling go. We haven't seen either of them since."
"Do you have at least some idea why they left?" Sakura wanted to know.
"Not really." Shaoran admitted. "The only clue we have is a letter that my aunt received a week or so before, right when we were at breakfast. It was delivered by a black owl actually, which in itself was strange for Asia. My aunt went ghost-white when reading whatever was in it, but before anyone could ask she used her magic to turn the letter to ashes and left the Dinning Hall. She was hardly seen the next week, and then…well, you know."
"And that's why you didn't come to Hogwarts at the time?" Sakura inquired.
"Yes." Shaoran nodded. "I decided to lead the search parties myself. Even when the Elders tried to convince me to let others handle it, I refused. We were at it for nearly six months before the Elders finally refused to keep backing down, they were angry that I had missed the time to begin Hogwarts, made such a scandal about having to wait for an additional year before I was ready to take over the Clan…I think some of them just wanted an excuse to try and get the position themselves. However, they didn't have a way of expelling my mother, and I finally got ready to attend Hogwarts, and the rest is History…"
"Do you still have someone looking for Meiling and her mom?" Sakura wanted to know.
"Not really, the search was called off the summer before I first came to Hogwarts." Shaoran admitted. "It was decided that they'd been gone for too long, and if they hadn't been found then they wouldn't be found unless they themselves allowed it."
"You don't think they are…well…" Sakura really didn't want to say it, and yet couldn't help but think it anyway.
"Dead?" Shaoran finished for her. "No. I'm quite sure I would know if they had died, Meiling at least, we were so tightly connected, she was more a sister to me than a cousin. I truly believe my magic would have reacted in some way to losing her, even if she doesn't have magic herself…"
Sakura noticed that, for a moment, it seemed like Shaoran wanted to say something else, but in the end he didn't.
"Just have faith, Shaoran-koi…" Sakura whispered as she buried her head in her husband's shoulder. "We will see Meiling-chan again."
"Yes we will…" Shaoran agreed, comforted by her wife's faith, she'd had always had such strong sense of will and faith.
"Kimi wa daijoubu dakara…" Both whispered in one voice.
.-.
It was one more week and already the beginning of a new month when Hermione's half-drowned cry called everyone's attention.
"I found it!" She practically squealed in delight.
It was Friday evening, her boyfriend, fiancé actually, had been trying to convince her to quit her work on their 'pet project' for the day, but she was stubborn, she had been so sure she would be finding something soon…though, on the other hand, she had been sure of something like that for at least three days. But this time it was true!
All the members of the room gathered around her as soon as they heard her cry, Hermione passed the heavy and rather ancient book to Eriol, waiting for confirmation of her thoughts.
"Oh for all that's holy…" Eriol gasped as he read the page Hermione had signaled.
As soon as they heard that, Shaoran practically ripped the book from Eriol's hands, wanting to know what exactly was going on, the moment he did, his jaw grew slacked and he came very close to actually drop the book. He cursed lowly in Chinese, something everyone noticed, and which called even more attention.
Harry was the next to take the book and read, his brow furrowed further and further as he kept reading, and the moment he finished he turned to look at his beloved.
"This is insane!" He practically cried out.
"Which is exactly why it will work." Eriol pointed out.
"Mr. Potter! And everyone else." Madame Pince called, having arrived to their corner just then. "Might I remind you this is a library? You're supposed to stay quiet in here!"
Several of the sorcerers couldn't help but think the librarian was making more scandal than all of them together had in the last few minutes but didn't say anything.
"We're sorry madam." Sakura directed a short bow at her.
The young woman was more focused on the book, but she was capable of keeping an air of innocence around her, enough Madame Pince accepted the apology and left back to her desk, muttering about teenagers with no respect of hallowed places…
"This is good, very good." Eriol declared, turning his attention back to the book.
Several of the others were perusing it by then, but it seemed that most were having a bit of trouble understanding what exactly it all meant and how it would help them.
"We need to discuss this further, but not here." Shaoran announced as he took the book.
Several eyes turned to him half-confused, half-annoyed, they had been reading until he had taken the book away from them…
"Walls have ears…and in this case so do bookshelves." Shaoran commented off-handedly.
The comment made things pretty obvious so no one complained, they simply gathered their things and followed Shaoran out of the library.
"Lets get to the Apartments." Eriol declared. "I'll give a call to the others so they meet us there a.s.a.p."
Several pairs of eyes followed the figures of the teenagers until they vanished out of the library doors. A few approached the table the group had been at, looking for anything that may reveal to them what it was that had been found, but all that had been left were pieces of ruined parchment, none which had enough written in it to be of any help. Several heads shook with various feelings, from annoyance, to anger to disdain; a second later, at least half of them were gone as well.
.-.
An hour later they had all gathered in the Common Room of the Sorcerers' Apartments; the book had been passed around so they could all read what Hermione had found and 'be on the same page', so to speak; however, that didn't mean they all understood what exactly what they had just read meant.
"This is a call to the Ancient Justice." Eriol began explaining. "It's…I imagine most of you know about how it is said that Justice is blind?"
Everyone nodded.
"While not the form I actually used the card, Libra is in fact based on the ancient myth of Justice." Eriol pointed out.
With a wave of her hand, the aforementioned Sakura Card appeared in the Sorceress's hand, it showed a scale, with the sun on one side and the moon on the other.
"I don't remember you ever using that card, Sakura-chan." Tomoyo commented as she tried to remember a moment when she had.
"That's because I never have." Sakura admitted. "Even when I captured it, it was during break from school, a day when it was all chaos I captured several cards, one after the other, and some never actually manifested before I managed to seal them, which is good because it was complicated enough to just do that, if I had had to fight them all, considering how some of those battles went, like against Sword, or Shadow…I honestly have no idea if I would have survived those days…"
"I'm sure you would have Sakura-chan, you're so very strong." Shaoran whispered into her ear, not allowing anyone else to hear his endearment.
"That you have never used Libra actively doesn't mean you have never used her passively." Eriol informed her right then. "How do you think you can know exactly when someone is being truthful or deceitful, when one choice is better than another, when the intent someone has in regards to you is good or bad? The Libra is connected to all that; just like it's also connected to justice…"
"Like the images of old that showed Justice…" Minerva commented, suddenly understanding where the conversation was going.
"Exactly." Eriol nodded.
With a wave of his hand, an image appeared over the center table, in view of everyone: it showed a tall, slim woman in a Greek-style tunic, her eyes were covered, making her blind for all practical purposes, and in her hands she held strings from which plates hung; she was pretty much a human scale.
"Ok, I get the image of Justice." Severus declared thoughtfully. "What does that have to do with what Miss Granger found, or with anything at all?"
"The call to Ancient Justice." Eriol repeated, before elaborating. "As I believe we may have mentioned before, in ancient times, there existed a Western Council, which functioned pretty much like the current Eastern one. However, with the Hogwarts' Founders, and Clow Reed gone, things went south very quickly. They had been the ones to push forward the idea of such a Council, after all, and were some of the ones to lead it; Clow was the most powerful Sorcerer of the time, and the Founders were Mages so powerful they could almost be considered Sorcerers themselves. The rest of the Sorcerers to inhabit the British isles back then much preferred to live their own lives, not interfering in others' nor allowing others to interfere in theirs, Clow was the only one to really want to connect with the Wizarding Society, and with the help of the Four Founders that was not only possible but even seemed almost easy." He sighed. "Without them, it all fell apart. Constant disagreements, arguments, fights for power, and eventually the Council devolved into what we now know as the Wizengamot. However, the Council is still part of its roots, and the ancient spells, codes and rules that were weaved into its creation must exist even now."
"Codes and rules?" Ron asked, very interested.
"Yes." Eriol nodded. "There is a reason why all members of the Wizengamot are purebloods, and while it may seem like it's part of the pureblood-supremacy movement, it actually isn't."
"Things are the same way in the Eastern Council." Shaoran pointed. "All the clans that form part of it have had magic for centuries, and the oldest ones are the ones to form the Elders. It's not because any of us might have anything against muggleborns, but the truth is, as far as Sorcerers are concerned, that the oldest lines are the most powerful ones, and in this kind of organizations, you need the magical power to keep the political one."
"What about Sakura, or Tomoyo?" Hermione asked, brows furrowed, are you going to say they are exceptions?"
She really didn't like it when some people believed purebloods had to be more powerful than first-generation magic users, just because, it went against everything she believed in; and everything she had been trying to prove since her first year.
"We're not trying to offend you, Hermione-san." Eriol assured her. "We're talking about Sorcerers here, not wizards and witches. And no, Sakura-san and Tomoyo-chan are no exceptions, they fall into the rules."
"How?" Minerva herself was confused at that.
"Because I'm not really muggleborn." Tomoyo reminded everyone. "While I may have gone back to using the name Daidouji when we realized Voldemort still existed, I am descended of two magical clans: the Amamiya and the Black. On the Sorcerer front, regardless of my parentage, you have to remember I am a reincarnation, of the Sorceress and Enchantress Rose Tsubame, that takes precedence over anything else…"
"What about Sakura?" Harry asked. "I mean, I know her mom was a witch too, but her father is muggle, right?"
"Sakura-san is a much more complicated matter." Eriol began…
"I was born a witch." Sakura tried to explain. "And while under normal circumstances that would have been it, I had been chosen, long before I was born, to become Clow's Heiress. His choosing me automatically made me a Sorceress; and when I was able to create a power for myself, that from my star, and therefore stop depending on Clow's magic, I automatically became the first of the Supreme Sorcerers. At that point it no longer mattered who my parents had been, I was the Card Mistress." She sighed. "If you remember, I had to go through the Crests' Trials to be accepted as a worthy bride for Shaoran-kun, but that was only because at that point the Elders only saw Sakura Kinomoto, a no-name Sorceress, I held no power, no influence, nothing…if they had known in that moment the power I actually possessed, such things would have never been necessary, because as Clow's Heiress I was as good as a Reed myself! Which is exactly why I didn't do that…I wanted to be respected for being me, not for a decision someone, anyone, did when I didn't even exist yet, for something I didn't actually earn myself…"
"Also, Hermy-chan, while I'm sure you probably haven't had the chance to research the matter, it has always been my belief that there are no true muggleborns." Naoko pointed out. "Magic is a fickle thing, it sometimes manifest, sometimes doesn't. It's how squibs come to be; sometimes two individuals can be very strong, yet not actually compatible magically and produce a child that just cannot access his or her magic, that doesn't mean the child doesn't have it, he or she just can't reach it. So, it is possible that in the next generation, or two, or even more, finally a member of such 'Squib Line' will marry someone he or she is compatible with, and the child from that union will actually be able to access the magic…"
"So you believe that all muggleborns actually come from squib-lines?" Hermione asked, actually thoughtful on the matter.
"It's a possibility." Naoko declared.
"It is, yet not the one we came here to discuss about." Shaoran reminded everyone.
"True, so back to the Ancient Justice…" Tomoyo nodded.
"Yes." Eriol agreed, glad to be back on track. "We were talking about the codes and rules of the original Western Council, codes and rules that are connected with the pillars upon which the group was founded."
"It's like this." Shaoran tried to help explain. "In the case of the Eastern Council, it was originally founded by Five Clans, each representing one of the five Chinese elements. While many more clans were part of the formation of the Council, or have joined since, those five were the most powerful at the time, and still are now."
"This concerns us, because something similar is true for the Ancient Western Council." Eriol went on. "Though in this case, there were originally seven clans, since seven is, according to Arithmancy, the most powerful magical number."
"The Ancient Justice consists on a specific group calling, before the complete Wizengamot, that it has become corrupt, and the codes and rules it was built upon tarnished." Shaoran took over again. "Therefore calling on the Ancient Magics that were used to create the Original Council to judge the current body of law. Since we all know that they're corrupt, or at least most of them, that same magic would demand justice be done. The easiest way for that justice to be achieved is to return to the beginning, turn the Wizengamot back into the Western Council, then, once that is done, none of the High Members of the Council can be those currently on the Wizengamot."
"Sounds simple enough." Long commented, satisfied that he'd finally understood things, as he hadn't at first. "What's the catch?"
"Oh…" Ron muttered at the same time, his expression not a very positive one.
They all turned to look at him instantly.
"I understand." He announced, his expression turning grim. "Or at least I think I do. It has to be the pillars right? The specific group who calls on the Ancient Justice, it has to be them, or at least all seven heirs…"
"Exactly." Sakura nodded, soberly. "That's the complication of this path. If even one of them isn't on agreement, the Ancient Justice cannot be called on. This kind of magics are so strong, they cannot be called on lightly."
"How do we know those seven families even exist still?" Sonomi inquired. "I mean, I know there are a lot of people who claim to be 'ancient purebloods' but very few of them truly are, most of the truly old families were lost many years ago, particularly since Grindelwalds' War and then the first one Voldemort caused…"
"And that's not all." Severus added. "We're talking about families that had existed since the times of the Founders…at least. I think not even the Founders families still exist now…"
"Actually, that's not exactly true." Hermione pointed out. "The Founders' Lines still exist today, although with another name, all of their heirs at some point married into other families, magical or otherwise, and it was their family names that were lost, not the lines themselves." She thought of something else and added. "And I'm not including Voldemort, or the Gaunts on that. Since Tom Riddle did, technically, die back in 1981…his return as a wraith notwithstanding, he's no longer the heir of Slytherin."
"Who is then?" Albus asked, very interested in everything that was being uncovered.
At this point, Hermione blushed.
"I don't actually know." She admitted.
The sigh was shared by everyone. They finally had a way to make their plans go through, mostly at least…but they had no idea how to actually put it in practice…
I know to most this chapter may seem like a filler. But I promise everything that was covered is important, or will be soon enough. (Someone out there asked me once where Meiling was...I told that person we would get to that, where, here is the signal. Meiling is coming! Eventually...)
For the next chapter...romance, romance, and more romance...(good thing I'm not diabetic, so much sweetness, mushiness and almost...fluffines! jejeje I hope you'll like it. My Valentine's Day chapter (grossly out-of-date) will be coming next!
P.S. Please, please review...I'm so stressed right now with the finals for my Master's Degree...I could use some positive reinforcement!
Ja ne!
