20. Ash Tree

Hermione and the rest of the group had no idea where to start looking for Jade. The bright witch wanted to start at places they had already been too with Jade while Ron suggested using Astoria's gobstone. It was Draco who finally said they first had to get out of town to make sure the villagers won't come after them again.

It was suspicious their group was discussion on the street while several buildings in town were on fire. The teachers of Salem had taken all students to safety and Hermione agreed. They shouldn't be the last ones to remain. She felt guilty and not like a hero who fought muggles for the freedom of witches.

Hermione had fought in one war before like the rest of her friends. They stayed on the smaller side streets and made it out of town. No muggle was seen anywhere and just a few houses where around seperated from the main village.

Slowly the group moved on until they saw a muggle leaving his house and walking closer to them. The young man didn't look scared and waved his arm to signal them to come closer. Ron was the first to step closer and held his wand ready to aim.

"Are you her friends?"

"Who are you talking about?" Ron expected a scream for help or anything else to alarm the rest of the village but instead the muggle lead the group into his house and to a room on the first floor. "I found her. She is weak and I thought maybe she was in the fire. Her hand looks burned"

Astoria opened the door and ran to Jade's side. Her gobstones laid on the small table next to the bed and the young witch took one after another. "Thank you for helping us"

"Oh, I... I like witches. I wasn't sure but... the rest of the village don't come to visit this house anymore. My father has declared me a... some kind of traitor because I didn't want to burn the old houses. You know, my father is the Major. He has gone mad. The whole village has gone mad. Can't you... go back in time or change their minds?"

"We don't do this" Hermione stepped behind Astoria and Scabior followed her. The young girl held Jade's hand and cried when she see it was burned. "What happened to her?"

"Oh... I don't know. I found her under the ash tree and when I wanted to take her here she said I shouldn't leave the stones. They don't look special to me but they mean a lot to her. I don't know why" The muggle left and after some time he came back with drinks and a first aid kit. "Is anybody else of you injured?"

"No, we are okay" Ron and Draco stood at the other side of Jade's bed and accepted to drink something from the Major's son. "Why does your father hate witches?"

"Oh, my father liked them because it's the witches that bring tourists to Salem but he said they stole something and then he changed. He got very angry about it. He said they must have been hiding in Salem all the time. I was so excited because I always believed you exist"

"But your father hates you now..." Draco looked upset thinking about his dead father and his mother who didn't believe in anything anymore.

"He doesn't hate me. I think he doesn't want me to get in trouble. The village is going insane and attack everybody. If I go outside they maybe burn me too. I hope they don't bring down the ash tree. It's the last one we have. In the major's office is an old drawing of the landscape and there were many ash trees... I think the villagers used the wood to burn the witches"

The group listened and Hermione remembered the Grimoire. It had to be the thing the major was missing. Jade must still have it and Hermione started looking for it. It wasn't in her hands and neither in any pocket. She turned around to the major's son and wasn't sure they could trust him. "Where is her book?"

"Oh, I put it in the first drawer. I thought my father comes home... well, the stones don't look magical but the book is definitely about magic. I didn't want him to see it" He went to the little cupboard next to Jade's bed and took the book from the first drawer and hand it over to Hermione. "Will you do magic now? Can I please stay and see it?"

The group decided against the muggle who left the room and closed the door. Hermione looked at the pages of the Grimoire and found one page was a little bit burned. She used a gobstone on the page and froze. "No... no, she didn't..."

"What?"

"Hermione, what did Jade do?" Ron noticed how scared Astoria was and he suspected the girl would take the book from his best friend any moment soon.

Hermione then dropped the book herself and started crying. "She gave up a part of her soul to save us. She let one of her gobstones die to save the school. The stone will never be used for another soul part and her part... the part of her soul is forever gone"

The group stayed silent and watched Jade.

The witch hadn't tried to run away and only save herself. She saved them all and Ron sank down on his knees. "It's the second time her gobstone magic saves someone. In Hogwarts she saved Astoria and now she saved an entire school"

Two hours later Jade woke up and had a terrible headache. Astoria was still by her side and held her hand. The young witch was smiling bright and happy. "You are awake again. Hermione thought you died but I knew that's not true. She isn't like you. She doesn't believe in the gobstone magic but... Jade, you lost a part of your soul"

"Not so fast, Astoria" The words of her younger friend hurt her head even more while she tried to remember what happened. "I did a ritual I found in the book. I saved the school, yes... but where are we?"

"We are in the house of the major. The major's son found you and helped you. What do we do now? Do we fight the muggles or do we go back? We could go home, Jade... and I stay with you"

"You can go wherever you want. It wasn't just my soul part. I... I set you free. I have no might over you anymore. I killed my soul part so yours is back with you. You can go and leave me" Jade looked away from Astoria who didn't understand what her friend just told her. Her soul was complete again but knowing this hurt her instead of making her happy. The young witch crawled closer to Jade and hugged her friend. "I was your friend before you saved a piece of my soul. You saved me from the spell Hermione did and now I'm free... but I'm still your friend and... it hurts I'm no longer part of you... Jade, can't you do the spell again?"

"No... I can never take any piece of soul anymore. My soul was in parts but always with me. Now one part is gone and my magic is... it's smaller now"

"And what if I try it?" Astoria's head rested on Jade's chest. Her words got no answer from her friend who simply hugged her back and kissed her hair.