Chapter 13. New and Old Charges.

Henry was standing in front of an elegant manor, bigger than the Halliwell manor but not so big as to make him feel intimidated; however he was nervous. Standing there, having just rung the bell, he couldn't help but remember earlier that day, what had gotten him there.

Flashback

It was Sunday morning, right after they had gone to deliver the now-purified-horcrux to Prof. Dumbledore; Henry had been called by the elders.

"You called for me?" He asked after doing a short bow.

"That we did." One of the elders told him. "We've watched your training, your great progress over the years; and have decided to give you your first charge."

That notice really surprised Henry. He knew he was the second generation of 'born' white-lighters, being his mother of the first. And yet his mother wasn't given a charge until she was in her late-twenties. It was true Harry had been given Hermione as a charge when being barely six, but Henry had been told they were 'special circumstances' (though as to what made them special no one really knew).

"After thinking we have decided you're the indicated white-lighter to guard her." The elder continued. "She's still new with her powers, so you won't only be guarding her, you'll also have to help her train and teach her everything there is to know."

Henry supposed they had chosen him for a task like that because of the home were he had been raised, and the fact that he was also half-warlock (wicca term for male-witches).

"She's had her powers for six months and…" The elder was abruptly interrupted.

"What?!" Henry lost all composure right then and there. "If she's had her powers for that long why was I called until now?!"

"It appears that she was repressing her powers on her own." The elder told him, not even faced by Henry's outburst. "She lost control over them yesterday and had a little accident, nothing to worry about; but it has become obvious she can't keep hiding her powers, she needs to learn to use them, and to deal with what comes with them."

"You make it sound like she doesn't want to be a witch." Henry commented.

"I meant it like she didn't know it was in her, at least not this kind of magic." The elder replied in the usual-cryptic way. "There's a reason why we chose you, Henry Mitchell, besides the fact that your raising may help you understand this new charge better; there's also the fact of your education…" The elder began explaining.

"Education?" Henry asked, and right then it dawned on him.

"Yes Mr. Mitchell." The elder nodded. "Your new charge is a wand-witch…"

And even though Henry had been expecting that, he couldn't help but stare in shock.

End of Flashback

The door opening brought Henry out of his memories, and there in the door he could see the small figure of what he knew was a house-elf. (He knew because he had met Harry's friend, 'Dobby the Free house-elf').

"Who's the gentleman, and who's he looking for?" The house-elf asked cordially.

"My name is Henry Mitchell." Henry replied with a short bow to show respect. "And I'm here looking for Miss Cho Chang…"

.---.

Henry wasn't the only one facing an British-charge that day, his mother too was doing the exact same thing; the different being that Paige's charge did know what she was, had known for a very long time, and had chosen to suppress her powers.

The half-witch half-white-lighter was in that moment standing on the roof of one of the tallest buildings in the neighborhood, her gift of invisibility preventing passing people from making a fuss about her presence, while she used one of her powers to try and locate her charge; one she hadn't seen in a very long time…

Flashback

A younger Paige dressed in casual clothing was standing in the backyard of a two-story house in a nice neighborhood from Bristol; before her stood a girl who seemed to be around twelve years old, with dark eyes and auburn hair, dressed in a simple shirt, skirt and tennis-shoes, she looked quite shocked.

"What do you mean with that?" The girl finally asked.

"Exactly like I said it." Paige replied calmly. "You have a kind of magic that goes far beyond what one can do with a wand. You're what we call a wicca-witch. And I'm here because I was chosen to be your white-lighter…"

End of Flashback

.---.

"White-lighter?" A woman with ashen-black hair and deep blue eyes asked, confused at the term the boy before her was using.

Henry was at the moment standing in the middle of the Changs' sitting room, after having been escorted inside by the family's house-elf. He had explained already who he was, and what had gotten him there; but it seemed the parents were having some slight difficulties in understanding and accepting everything the boy was telling them.

"You may understand me better if I use the term clear-guide." Henry replied. "We could say it's a guardian-angel of sorts for witches like Miss Chang."

"But you still haven't explained what 'a witch like her' means." Mr. Chang said sternly.

"A wicca-witch." Henry explained. "When compared to the witches and wizards you know, she has a different level in the way she can perform magic."

.---.

Flashback

"You mean I'm not really a wand-witch?" The girl asked anxiously.

"I mean you're much more than that." Paige replied. "The level you've shown in this year at your magic-school has been good, but your potential goes far beyond that, in ways that just can't be taught at your school."

"What?!" She cried out. "You mean you want me to leave Hogwarts?! No way!"

"We have our own Magic School, it will adjust better to your kind of power. You must know Miss that with the right education you could become very powerful. Maybe even be a Demon-Hunter one day…"

"I don't want! I don't want to leave my home, I don't want to leave Hogwarts and I don't want to leave my friends. I won't do it, and you can't make me."

"That's right, I can't. But I'm afraid that if you don't get the right training your powers will one day get out of control and you'll be in trouble."

"Then I'll never use those powers. I've already mastered my gift. But aside from that, I'll never use magic if it isn't the one of my wand."

"Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Yes."

"Very well. As I said, I can't force you to do what you obviously don't want. But know this: you won't be able to turn your back on your inheritance forever. Believe me, I know. One day it'll catch up to you and you must be ready to accept what comes with it."

"I will." There was no doubt in the girl's words.

"Very well, then so be it. It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Tonks…"

And without further ado, Paige vanished in a haze of blue sparks.

End of Flashback

That meeting wasn't the best Paige had ever had with one of her charges. But she had been told in advance that she might not be able to get that girl to accept her tutoring, especially being as she was already part of another magical society.

What was incredible was that that girl (who wasn't a girl any longer…) had actually been able to suppress her wicca magic for so long, twelve years to be exact; until she finally used it…

.---.

"She's always done magic the same way as us, as everyone else!" Mrs. Chang stressed out.

"That may be true." Henry nodded. "But being a wicca-witch doesn't mean she can't use a wand, it just means she has greater possibilities and abilities that go beyond that."

"What kind of abilities?" It was the first time Cho had dared speak since Henry had stepped into her family's sitting room and began explaining about her just-awoken-powers.

"Well, according to the records the elders showed me before I came here, you're listed as a Conjurer." Henry answered.

The Changs didn't completely understand what that meant.

"Ok." Henry declared. "Let's do something simple, so you and your parents will see. I want you to concentrate in a small, inanimate object, lets say…a flower. Think about your favorite flower, concentrate, picture it in your mind…Now imagine that flower crossing the boundaries of your mind and materializing in the real world, in your extended left hand…"

Mrs. Chang gasped suddenly.

Cho opened her blue eyes right then, she had closed them to concentrate the way Henry had told her to do, and was quite shocked at what she saw: there, in her outstretched left hand laid a single magnolia-blossom.

"Amazing…" Cho whispered.

"And that's just the beginning of it." Henry explained. "With the right training you'll one day be able to conjure any kind of thing, or 'materialize' if you prefer that term; from all sizes, and with as many details as you wish. You will also be able to summon things and even living beings from anyplace they may be, as long as you know what you want to summon. There's just no way of knowing yet how far you may get."

"You mean she can be more powerful than you?" Mr. Chang asked.

"I mean she can be as powerful as she wishes to be." Henry answered with a smile. "I'm not the best person to compare her to, as I'm not a conjurer myself, though one of my mother's former students is. I'm, as I said before, a white-lighter and a warlock, and due to the different bloodline I have several gifts and not one; though Miss Cho's gift is quite powerful by itself. I have no doubt that if she put enough effort in it she'll soon become a very powerful conjurer."

"Call me Cho." The gal said. "I'll be very pleased to have you as my trainer and guardian."

.---.

Tonks kept pacing back and forth in the small and cozy sitting room of her flat in downtown London; something that she had been doing for some time.

"This time I really got myself in some thick trouble." She mumbled to herself, as she couldn't help but remember what had gotten her in that predicament.

Flashback

She had been chosen for that particular mission, an ambush upon a group of suspected DE, in a pub in some small village, nothing major; until the ambush turned against the aurors.

It had been so sudden, Tonks began fighting on instinct. Spell after spell, move after move; spells, jinxes, and at some moment even physical fighting maneuvers, went on, as each side tried its best to overpower the other.

But eventually the DE proved to be just too many and too well prepared. The leader of the aurors gave the order to retreat, when half of them had already fallen.

Tonks had foolishly stayed behind until the last moment, trying to get sure that no more of her comrades would fall in that place; and that action, while noble and courageous, had almost cost her her own life.

She had waited so long to leave that by the time she tried the place she was in had already been sealed, anti-aparition and anti-portkey wards already in place, and as there was no fireplace anyway near, she was trapped.

Too tired to continue dueling, Tonks had almost given up all hope of making out of that place and her awful situation when she suddenly felt something inside of her; it was as if a dam had broken, releasing a wave of power that she had almost completely forgotten she possessed; it had been so long since she had last used it…

Her wand had fallen to the ground with a low clank, followed silently by her cloak and robes, as she felt her body slowly changing, in an entirely different way from when she used her metamorphmagus abilities.

Just a few seconds later four DE had entered the room, looking for any possible survivors from the ambush. The only thing they found was a forgotten wand, a pile of clothes and an old-looking dusty lamp.

After making sure there were no aurors, the DE just turned around and left.

And just a couple of seconds later, on top of the discarded clothes and next to the fallen wand, in place of the dusty-lamp, stood a very bewildered and exhausted Tonks.

End of Flashback

She'd transformed into an inanimate object, something she knew went far beyond the powers of a metamorphmagus; they in fact belong to a shape-shifter…

Tonks was brought out of her memories by an insistent knocking on her door. Knowing that whoever was out there would not be easily dissuaded she finally stopped her pacing and went to open the door, at the same time wondering just who would be behind it, as she wasn't really expecting any visitors.

'Though there is the chance…' she thought in the last moment.

And so, the young metamorphmagus (or shape-shifter) opened the door to find a certain auburn-haired, cinnamon eyed woman dressed in muggle clothes.

"Hello Miss Tonks, I hope you remember me." The newly arrived, who was in fact none other than Paige, declared seriously.

"I do, how could I ever forget you?" Tonks replied honestly, she sighed before adding. "I knew you would be coming sooner or later."

"Then you must also know the reason why I've come." Paige replied.

"I do." Tonks nodded.

"And?" Paige was expecting some kind of response from the woman.

"Well, I really don't think I have much of a choice, after your departing words more than a decade ago." Tonks declared honestly. "And as much as it costs me to admit it, I must say it would be good to have some more power on me with the war that's going on."

"Ok." Paige nodded. "I understand."

"You do?" Tonks asked, somewhat confused. "How would you know anything about our war? I mean, I thought you had said you weren't from Europe."

"I'm not." Paige said honestly. "But that doesn't mean I don't know what's going on around me. I'm a witch Miss Tonks, and a whitelighter, and not all of my charges are from USA."

Tonks nodded, that sounded logical.

"I've been told of the little stunt you pulled yesterday." Paige said. "It seems you know how to use your powers well enough. It helps the fact that you're so used to using the glamouring."

"So, now when I have trouble I'll call you?" Tonks asked.

"No." Paige replied. "As much as I would like that, it would not work. I live too far away for me to be available at short notice. I've already talked to the elders, and they agreed with me that you should be able to call on someone who's closer to you if you ever have an emergency, only if he can't handle those things I will come in, or if he can't assist you."

"Who will I have to call then?" Tonks asked.

As in the previous meeting Paige had explained most of what her responsibilities were, Tonks only needed to understand a few basic details.

"My son." Paige replied, then she turned to the ceiling and called. "Samuel!"

Some seconds passed, and then a trace of blue sparks announced the arrival of the younger whitelighter. He was wearing a completely white outfit, consisting of shirt, slacks and shoes, as well as a silver mask that covered the upper half of his face; those were the things he had decided to wear when meeting with someone he didn't want to know who he truly was.

"You called me mom?" Henry asked.

"Yes." Paige nodded. "This is Miss Nymphadora Tonks, a charge of mine that I've been told to guard. As you can deduce from our current location she's a wand-witch, and right now lives quite far from me."

"You want me to look after her." The boy deduced.

"Yes." Paige nodded. "I know you have another charge to look after, but I believe Miss Tonks will be able to take care of herself just fine. I just want you to be alert in case of an emergency as in such circumstances you're likely to get here faster and easier than I."

"I understand." Henry nodded, he then turned to the other woman. "My name is Samuel, Miss Tonks, whenever you need me just call my name and I shall be able to find and help you. In case of a serious emergency either you or I will call my mother. But if it's something simple then I must be able to take care of it. Any doubts?"

Tonks shook her head.

"Very well, if that's all I have another charge to go back to." Henry declared. "A pleasure meeting you Miss Tonks, good bye mom."

And just as he had arrived, the boy was gone.

.---.

In an entirely different place, one that seemed to be completely drowned in shadows, a figure could barely be seen running, her speed and quietness making it obvious that whatever it was he or she was doing it was supposed to be a secret.

The figure arrived to what looked like some old manor, one of the few buildings still standing in the shadowed city. Being extremely careful, almost as if she/he expected to be discovered and attacked at any moment she/he made their way inside.

The manor was absolutely silent at the moment, something the intruder decided to use to its advantage; it was when it step under the moonlight that came from a glassless window in the solarium that the figure's characteristics became evident.

It was female, a woman on her late-teens, with long very-dark red hair in a tight braid, slightly dark skin, slim and tall, wearing dark-brown leather clothes, a tight top with a low v'-neck and just strings in the back and around her neck, mini-shorts that reached just to beginning of her thighs, along with high healed boots that covered most of her legs (to where her shorts ended), with those came fingerless gloves and forearm-protectors; as well as a long midnight-black cloak that covered her almost completely. From her back hung an elaborated bow made of dark wood, thin arrows with blood-red tips and feathers were secured in a quiver and strapped to her back, along with a couple of cutlasses that rested at her hips.

Slowly, silently, she made her way to the top level of the manor, the attic. In a corner rested an old book, a book that throughout many years had been the aim of many creatures, of both light and darkness; but she didn't seem to care about it at all.

Instead she made her way to a wall, where she pressed her hand to the worn-out drawings, a symbol had been there once, the triketra; the signal of the legendary Power of Three.

She immediately brought out a piece of chalk and began drawing her own symbol above the old one, this one consisted of two four-pointed stars, that in fact looked like gems of some sort, it was the signal that represented an old sisterhood known as the Jewel-Witches.

She had just finished inscribing some runes on the points of the star when she heard noises in the manor. She cursed softly, she would have to hurry or risk being found. She was about to began an incantation when voices called her attention.

"Do you believe the words of this so-called Shadow Queen, my lord?" A hesitant voice asked.

"I do." A harder, colder voice replied. "We all know what those stupid rebels tried for so long, it's not impossible that they may have succeeded, at least in part."

"So, you're going to take up on her offer?" Another voice asked.

"At least for now, yes." The cold voice of the one who was probably the leader replied. "We could greatly benefit of something like this. After all these years we have almost completely drained the magic of this world, if we take this allegiance we will have new energies, fresh energies." He snorted as he added. "And I just can't wait to meet sweet little Christopher again, I wonder if he's found his phoenix again…"

The laugh that echoed in the hallways was so cold…

The young woman seemed to panic right then as she began to hurriedly chant an incantation in a foreign language. She was halfway when the attic door unexpectedly banged open.

"Well, what have we here?" A taunting voice said in a dark tone.

The woman's eyes opened wide in fear and despair, but she never stopped chanting, all the while holding a wrapped package tight in her hands.

"What have you gotten there, Jewel?" The leader's voice asked.

But instead of answering she vanished the package, right as she spun around, chanted the last line of her incantation, and slammed both of her hands on the symbol she had drawn earlier.

The effects were immediate, a multicolored light erupted from the lines on the wall and began forming some kind of cocoon around her almost right away.

"What are you waiting for idiots, stop her!" The leader yelled to those that had arrived with him. "Don't let her leave!"

But it was useless, the light was pure-magic, light-magic, and that made it impossible for the others, demons, to even get near enough the young woman to touch her.

Right before the light finished enveloping her, the young woman turned to look at the dark leader one last time, tears could be seen falling down her bright jade eyes.

"I'm sorry…" She mouthed to the young man, a pain in her eyes so deep that no one other than her could understand. "Wyatt…"

And with that, she was gone.


Oh...so many flashbacks, I hope it was all clear...except the last scene, that was meant to be confusing. You'll understand more about it in the next chapter.

Now, I apologize for the late update, and for future late updates as well. You see, up to now I had had the chapter written beforehand, as sometimes my muse doesn't feel like being too cooperative and leaves my work hanging for a while. From here on I will be writting chapters and uploading them right away. This brings you an advantage, as now you can give suggestions and ideas, but on the other hand it's probably going to take me longer to bring you new chapters. Sorry, but that's just how things are, hope you'll bare with me and keep reading.

P.S. By the way, thanks for all your reviews! I love them!