Harry Potter and the Mother Who Lived

by Gracques

When Lord Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow to kill Harry Potter, he agreed to a request from one of his disciples to spare his mother. The Dark Lord remained true to his word. Lily Evans Potter survived the night of October 31, 1981. Follow the story of Harry Potter where Voldemort kept his word and Harry was raised by his mother.

196. Susan IX

Okay, quite an extensive chapter. But its length is mostly due to what I call its "encyclopedic" passages. There are still significant events that happen in this chapter.

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SUSAN IX

"For the next lesson," Mrs Evans announced at the end of their third Monday of the term, "your only homework is to keep practicing your Shield Charm."

There was a wave of relief across the classroom. Even after only two weeks completed this year, many people were exhausted. Their piles of homework never seemed to end. Each time they completed a homework, it was as if the teachers gave them two more. Even Susan, who was hard at work and diligent in her studies, found they were asked a lot. And although Hermione didn't admit it, Susan could see she was struggling.

"This is no excuse to arrive on the next lesson and pretend you practiced if you didn't. I expect an improvement in your Shield Charms," Harry's mother warned them all. They were still on that charm. Many people struggled to master it. Harry, who sat next to Susan today, was among the few to really control it.

"But this is not the only homework you will have to do." The initial relatively good mood of a moment ago was replaced by silent groans of resignation. Their professor waved her wand, and a small piece of paper flew in their direction for each and every one of them. "For next Monday, I want you to prepare a small dissertation and a five-minute long oral presentation on the example of dark magic you just received. The presentation must include a short history of this specific example of dark magic, its effects, and how to defend against it. I warn you, you should expect to do a lot of research, including historical, for this homework. I wish you a good evening."

The entire class stood up. In the corner, Dolores Umbridge stood up as well, closing her clipboard with a satisfied smile and walked out of the classroom quickly. Susan didn't like this woman. The few times her aunt spoke about her, she had nothing good to say, and with how she was treated by her at Harry's trial, Susan wasn't about to give this Mrs Umbridge any good consideration.

"Is she going to attend all your mother's lessons?" Susan whispered to Harry.

"I don't know," he replied darkly. He didn't like Umbridge either. No one really seemed to like her.

"So, we see each other at the library after dinner, like always?" Susan asked.

Harry looked at her for a moment, seeming troubled. "We have a Quidditch practice this evening. I forgot to tell you."

"Quidditch? On Monday?" she asked, surprised.

"Yes. I believe Angelina wants us ready to face Slytherin."

"But you are still two months away from the first game."

"I guess she wants us to be truly ready. Sometimes, I wonder if Oliver may be dead and his spirit was transferred to Angelina. This time, we will not be practicing with the other teams."

"Oh. You stop?"

"No. We more or less agreed to have that common practice each Saturday morning, at least for now. Maybe Angelina wants us to train without the eyes of other teams."

Susan shook her head while smiling slightly. Competition at Quidditch was both amusing and exasperating at times.

"Well, enjoy yourself, Harry. Just be careful. O.W.L. year."

Her mention didn't require further explanation. The two went separate ways to their respective tables after arriving in the Great Hall. Susan looked in Harry's direction with longing. She missed their time alone together from last summer. It had already been difficult last year to spend time with each other that wasn't doing homework, but this year so far proved to be even more complicated. Their amount of work had increased, and this year Harry had Quidditch, which further reduced the time they could spend together. After half a summer spent almost entirely with her boyfriend, Susan missed those long moments together they could enjoy.

"Hey, Susan," Hannah asked her all of a sudden. "What dark magic did Professor Evans give you?"

Susan looked at the piece of parchment she had instinctively put in her pocket. She did not even care to look at it when their professor gave them. Something must be wrong with her. She unrolled the paper and read the two words on it.

Vadisima Curse.

Susan frowned at the words. She never heard of such a curse.

"Did you ever hear of this spell?" Susan asked her best friend.

"No. It doesn't tell me anything," she replied. "But look at what I picked."

Hannah showed her own paper. For a moment, Susan didn't understand what these words were doing here. But after reading them again, she had to concede that they were truly written.

Sleeping Curse.

"She really gave you that?" Susan asked.

"Yes. Odd, isn't it?" Hannah commented.

"Did you know the Gryffindors were training tonight? For Quidditch?"

"No. I hadn't heard about it. Last time I heard, our team was still training with them."

"It seems like it changed."

Hannah sighed. "That's the problem with Gryffindors. They're nice, most of the time, but when you expect it the least, they believe to be better than you."

Hannah sent an exceeded glare towards the table of Gryffindor, around the place where Harry saw sitting. Susan then realized her friend was talking about Ron.

"Hannah, you're not still angry at him. It's been some time now that it happened."

"I'm not angry, Susan. But I'm not going to forget how he dumped me in front of everybody. Would you forget if Harry had done the same to you?"

On that, Susan remained silent.

"By the way, I noticed you finally sat next to him in Defence Against the Dark Arts. You're no longer intimidated by his mother?"

Susan felt timid at answering this. "It's just… How would you react if you dated a boy whose mother happens to be your teacher?"

"I would find it funny," Hannah joked. Then she took a more serious expression. "Come on. You look almost ashamed of being with Harry when she's around. I know you stop holding Harry's hand when you cross his mother in the corridors."

In this moment, Susan hated her best friend for noticing that kind of small details.

"Well, anyway, if it can reassure you, I think Justin has an eye on another girl now. Someone in Gryffindor."

Susan let Hannah's gossips enter through an ear and leave from the other. She wouldn't stop Hannah from discussing it, but she wouldn't add fuel to the fire. And eventually, the subject died down and they discussed what their respective parents had been doing lately. That didn't stop them from heading directly to the library to complete homework as soon as dinner was over. Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor team left the Great Hall at the same time. Harry and Susan crossed paths, but they were too far away and had to satisfy themselves with waving at each other.

Like every evening, the library was full of students. Susan had not truly realized how full it was last year, but it seemed like every student in fourth year or above was busy working. After the first two weeks, illusions from the few who believed they could take it slow had faded into oblivion. Everyone aged fourteen or more was busy completing homework before the professors could give them more.

"Let's start with the homework in Defence Against the Dark Arts," Hannah said. "I have a feeling that we will really need to do a lot of research for this one. Mrs Evans has never exaggerated up to now."

"Maybe," Susan conceded.

Hannah was probably right. Susan herself had no idea what the curse Mrs Evans gave her was. First, she had to find what it actually was. As such, she and Hannah went into the bookshelves of the library, looking for works on various curses. Susan finally found a book detailing all kinds of curses. The one she was to work on luckily appeared in the index. In fact, most curses were unknown to Susan. But the tome included information on the Unforgivable Curses and other spells, all more unpleasant than the next. She didn't think this Vadisima Curse would be any different.

Susan found the page about the curse in the middle of the book. The very beginning of the chapter did not prove to be very encouraging.

Little is known about the Vadisima Curse. Throughout history, there is only one person who is confirmed to have ever used this spell, the dark witch Shuriki, who was also the creator of the curse. No one knows precisely how the curse was invented or the requirements to make it work, but its effects are well documented.

The Vadisima Curse is a spell meant to kill. It could be considered as a variant of the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra. The Vadisima Curse was however created long after the Killing Curse we know today, and the effects of both curses differ while being similar. The main effect of the Vadisima Curse is to kill whoever is hit by the spell. It takes the shape of a green streak. However, where the Killing Curse's effects stop at causing the death of a person without any other damage (this is why Muggles often fail to identify the cause of death when examining the body of someone killed by this curse, as the Killing Curse, when mastered perfectly, takes the life out of someone without causing any injury to the body), the Vadisima Curse is best described as being explosive. It doesn't only kill the target, but also destroys its body and everything in its surrounding, leaving nothing behind. There are even cases of a single streak causing the death of at least two people at the same time.

As such, it could seem that the Vadisima Curse is way more powerful that the Killing Curse, which has never been reported to kill more than one person at a time. But what makes the Killing Curse so effective is the fact that it focuses all its magical energy and power to cause death. The Vadisima Curse, by losing some energy to explosions and material damage, loses in efficiency. This may explain why some magical artifacts managed to block its effects, such as the Amulet of Avalor. While the Killing Curse only has one survivor in over a thousand years, the Vadisima Curse has one over only a few uses within a few years. It also seems to have required a particular kind of wand to be thrown, and it was very difficult to master. In fact, the curse may have been made in particular for only one witch, its creator, Shuriki.

Given it is no longer used today, the Vadisima Curse is not listed as an Unforgivable Curse and has not been used for centuries. It still remains a dark curse though, and its use has caused several deaths over many years, the most well-known being the deaths of a king and queen. At the same time, this curse proved its inefficiency only a few minutes after causing those deaths, as it failed to end their daughter. The creator of this curse was eventually defeated by a Muggle-born witch. After her death, the curse was never used again.

Susan took notes as she read the chapter. Further details appeared as she kept reading, but it was obvious that she would need more sources of information on this curse. It was a good beginning though.

"I can't believe it," Hannah muttered next to her. Susan looked up from the parchment where she was taking notes.

"What?" Susan asked.

"Look."

Her best friend pushed the book she was looking into towards Susan. At the page where it was open, a hand-drawn picture showed a strange creature of humanoid shape, with horns on the head and very large wings. But what caught Susan's attention afterwards was the name under the picture.

"Is that a fairy tale book?" she asked Hannah.

"No. This is a collection of short biographies on famous wizards and witches. Look." Hannah turned the page to show the cover of the book. Indeed, this was a very serious historical work on wizards' biographies. "I was looking into this Sleeping Curse, and it led me to this."

Hannah turned back the page to where she was before. The name of the witch appeared in bold capital letters under the picture.

MALEFICENT

"I thought it was villain in a movie," Susan said.

"Me too. Remember, we watched it together."

"Oh. True."

It happened so long ago that Susan didn't think about it. She and Hannah grew up in London, surrounded by Muggles, so they were of course influenced by Muggle culture. Some time at the age of seven or eight, or so Susan thought, a classmate invited them for a birthday party, and a part of the party was spent watching the movie Sleeping Beauty. At this age, both girls had been scared by the villain of the movie, who had the same name as the one written in this history book.

"Are we sure this is not a mistake? Or a joke?" Susan asked.

"No, it's not. I read it, and it is very serious. Take a look. You'll see."

Skeptical and curious, Susan went to read the chapter concerning a Disney character.

To many people, both in the Muggle world and in the Wizarding world, Maleficent is a figure that belongs to legends and fairy tales. Even some wizards, especially among those who were born in Muggle families or who have Muggle relatives, instinctively associate her with the main villain of the movie Sleeping Beauty from 1959. (For readers who are unfamiliar with Muggle culture and technology, please refer to the appendix to see what a movie is.) Even most wizards simply view her as a dark witch who cast a curse on a baby for frivolous reasons. The truth, as always, is far more complicated.

Unlike some may think, even in wizarding communities, Maleficent was a powerful witch who truly existed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, in Scotland. Although we can blame wizards for preferring tales and children stories to historical facts, Muggles can be forgiven their inaccurate view of Maleficent, as most historical documents concerning Maleficent are only available to wizards (records from the Wizards' Council, Hogwarts and Beauxbatons, along with the memoirs of Queen Aurora written in her late life that are exposed in Beauxbatons).

Maleficent was born in the thirteenth century, most likely around 1280. Very little is known about her early childhood. The few information we have about her come from Queen Aurora's memoirs, who mentions confessions that Maleficent herself made to the queen. From her very birth, Maleficent always preferred the company of animals, especially magical creatures, to that of humans. Nothing is known about her parents, and it seems they occupied very little place, if none at all in Maleficent's life. The only human with who she seems to have developed some kind of bond in her early childhood was a young boy by the name of Stefan, an orphaned peasant.

The records of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry show that Maleficent became a student of the school in 1291, and that she joined the House of Hufflepuff. (It is strange and ironic to think that a powerful witch who is viewed as evil by both Muggles and wizards joined the house wrongly viewed to exist for kind and talentless individuals. A proof that power and evil can come from everywhere.) Scribbling left by a student in a book in the library of the school, which has been dated to be around the end of the thirteenth century, indicates that Maleficent was considered to be an excellent student in Care of Magical Creatures and that she spent all her time with beasts, proving her early interest for all creatures.

Hogwarts' records then indicate that Maleficent was expelled from the school in 1294. The cause of this expulsion is unclear, but Hogwarts' records indicate that Maleficent was accused of having used illegal magic, and to have endangered the safety of the school and its students. The records of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic indicate that Maleficent also shortly stayed at this school, but left very shortly afterwards, most likely to return in the natural environment she herself referred to as the Moors her whole life.

Maleficent's appearance was quite odd, which has brought many people, including wizard scholars, to suggest she was not human, or that she was only part-human, the result of a relationship between a human and a magical being. Her features were very angular, she had horns on her head, pointed ears, very angular features, and gigantic wings that allegedly allowed her to fly over the clouds in the sky. However, these physical particularities do not correspond to any traits of any magical creatures known to this day. More likely, Maleficent's appearance is the result of magical experimentations that altered her appearance. She might have performed some herself to get closer to animals, which might explain part of her expulsion from Hogwarts. Or she might have been the victim of body altering magic in her early childhood, and the victim of segregation at school as a consequence, which led to her eventual expulsion.

Maleficent went back to living in the nature after she left school, not having completed any significant step of her magical education. Over her teenage years, including while she was at Hogwarts, she maintained a bond with Stefan, the young Muggle peasant she befriended as a kid, and even had a short romantic relationship with him. Queen Aurora mentions that on her sixteenth birthday, Stefan gave Maleficent what he called a true love's kiss. However, as Stefan and Maleficent grew up, they also grew apart and stopped seeing each other at some point. Maleficent lost the only meaningful relationship she had with a human at this moment.

At the very beginning of the early fourteenth century, Maleficent began to chase hunters and other humans who travelled in areas where magical creatures, and sometimes even common creatures lived. Maleficent had a gift to take care of magical beasts and to communicate with them. Among the creatures she is known to have befriended are phoenixes, kelpies, fairies, erklings, augureys, snidgets, unicorns, hippogriffs, dragons, acromentulas, centaurs, and even trolls. Sights of a human-like creature with horns and large wings flying over woods became common for people wandering in this region. She became known in folklore as the Protector of the Moors.

Maleficent's activity of protecting beasts and creatures did not only bother poachers and hunters from both Muggle and wizarding worlds. It also bothered kings and lords who often used forests as their personal hunting grounds, and a part of the wizarding world who didn't like to see a single witch so openly defy Muggles. Although the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy had not been adopted back then, most wizards preferred to lead a discreet life, not attracting attention and avoiding conflicts with Muggles, which was the very opposite of what Maleficent did. In many wizards' opinion, her attitude of openly defying Muggles who, in her eyes, threatened magical creatures, put the rest of the wizarding community in danger. It wasn't rare that poachers and hunters, but also guards and soldiers, disappeared when they wandered in natural habitats under Maleficent's protection. Eventually, a prize was placed on her head, but the people who went after her either returned empty handed, or they vanished without leaving any trace.

Queen Aurora's memoirs indicate that her grandfather, King Henry, was particularly displeased with Maleficent's activities. Surviving archives from the Wizards' Council of the time reveal that three witches were sent to his court, either to hunt down Maleficent or to negotiate a peace between her and King Henry. Whatever their attempts were, they failed, and King Henry eventually led a large expedition against Maleficent. Both Aurora and the records from the Wizards' Council confirm that a small battle took place between hundreds, if not thousands of Muggle soldiers, and magical creatures led by Maleficent, including trolls, centaurs and dragons. Many Muggles perished on that day, and Maleficent herself mortally wounded King Henry, although it seems that she gave them a chance to walk away before she and her magical creatures attacked. King Henry refused, famously declaring: "A king does not take orders from a winged elf". Maleficent would have famously retorted: "You are no king to me".

King Henry, however, was not dead yet. In his last days, while on his deathbed, he decided that whoever killed Maleficent would marry his only daughter, Princess Leila, and succeed him to become king. This is when Stefan, the young boy Maleficent knew as a child, reappeared in her life. He was now working for the king but came to see Maleficent pretending he wanted to warn her about a danger. Queen Aurora reports that Maleficent believed him, and that Stefan used this trust to give her a drink that made her sleep. Stefan would have been unable to bring himself to kill Maleficent, but he cut her wings and brought them back to the dying king as supposed proof he had ended Maleficent's life. Before King Henry died, Stefan wed his daughter, and he became King Stefan afterwards.

(Some scholars believe that Stefan got help from the three witches present at King Henry's court to trap Maleficent. He used a potion to make her fall asleep, which required magical skills he was unlikely to master. Also, since Maleficent's wings were magical in nature, it is very likely that Stefan got help from someone who knew how to sever magical wings. Maybe the witches sent by the Wizards' Council wanted to kill, or at least weaken Maleficent to end her activities and prevent a full-scale persecution of wizards, or even a war between Muggles and wizards. If that was the case, they failed miserably.)

For a time, Maleficent disappeared in the wilderness. Despite people still vanishing in the Moors, the figure of Maleficent was no longer seen in the skies. This led most people to assume she was dead. A few years after her wings were cut, King Stefan and his queen had a daughter by the name of Aurora. They organized a great ceremony for the christening of their daughter, allegedly inviting most people from their country and beyond. (The number of guests is unknown and may have been limited to a large gathering of nobles from King Stefan's territory and the other surrounding kingdoms, although Aurora later claimed that everyone down to the poorest peasant was present.) For the occasion, the three witches who were still serving at Stefan's court were designated to be Aurora's godmothers. (This supports the idea that the three witches helped Stefan to maim Maleficent, as he would have been grateful to them. It is also possible that Stefan only wished for the witches to protect his daughter, knowing very well that Maleficent was still alive. In that case, he was right.)

The three witches, who Aurora later described as fairies (a mistake due to Aurora's lack of knowledge of the wizarding world), bestowed wishes of beauty and happiness in life upon the baby, before the third witch wished that she would find true love. It is at this moment that all lights vanished in the throne room where the christening was taking place, that strong winds hit the attendance, and that a large shadow appeared in the middle of the ceremony. Maleficent had Apparated. Queen Aurora gives us details of people's reactions to this.

"Maleficent once told me that most people present at my christening were terrified by her sudden appearance. They all believed she had been long dead, and yet here she was. She described my father as being especially upset and terrorized, although he tried to maintain an appearance of self-control in front of the whole court."

Stefan and the three witches of his court tried to make Maleficent understand that she wasn't welcomed, but neither them nor any guard could stop Maleficent from doing what she came for. She easily neutralized the three witches who stood in her way before turning to the baby. Aurora claims that it is when she noticed a spinning wheel in the throne room that Maleficent chose to cast the Sleeping Curse. The curse can be found in the surviving records of the Wizards' Council that reached us.

"Listen well, all of you. The princess shall indeed grow in grace and beauty, beloved by all who meet her. But before the sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and fall into a sleep like death, a sleep from which she will never awaken."

Here stops the curse as we know it from the Wizards' Council's records. According to Aurora's memoirs though, her father would have begged Maleficent to remove the curse. Maleficent ironically granted his wish, partially altering the prophecy.

"The princess can be woken from her death sleep, but only by true love's kiss."

Some believe that the content of this curse, also considered a prophecy, can be found at the Department of Mysteries, though there is of course no way to confirm or refute this hypothesis. What is known for sure is that Maleficent disappeared right after she cast the curse, declaring that the curse would last forever and that no power in the world could change it.

Maleficent disappeared in the wilderness once again. King Stefan took drastic measures to protect his daughter, going as far as to destroy all spinning wheels in his kingdom. Maleficent's reappearance had revealed he never killed her like he claimed and put into question his kingship. The fact he was seen begging, kneeling at Maleficent's feet, while being unable to protect his own daughter, further weakened his position. The Wizards' Council, in the hope to prevent more persecutions as a consequence of Maleficent's actions, sent several mages and witches to break the curse Maleficent threw on Princess Aurora, but all their attempts failed. Stefan then decided to hide his daughter in a place he himself wouldn't know, under the guard of the three witches of his court. In the meantime, he sent his whole army to chase Maleficent.

For the sixteen years that followed, King Stefan locked himself into his castle while Maleficent erected huge walls of trees and brambles to protect areas of the wilderness inhabited by magical creatures she protected her whole life. The kingdom of Stefan grew increasingly isolated as rumours of a dark witch controlling a growing part of his lands spread, and no one wished to conquer or deal with a kingdom where such a powerful dark being lived. Stefan sent all those who opposed or questioned him to hunt down Maleficent. Most of them never returned. His own wife, Queen Leila, died during this period. Multiple attempts by the Wizards' Council to convince Maleficent to abandon her feud with King Stefan failed, and the conflict only grew worse.

In the meantime, away from all this, Aurora grew up, raised by the three witches her father entrusted her to. However, if Stefan thought that hiding his daughter in a remote location, unknow to everyone, would keep her safe and away from Maleficent, he was partially wrong. Maleficent quickly found out very early where Aurora was hidden, and she kept a close eye on the girl, her guardians never realizing that Maleficent had found them.

What followed is unusual and unexpected for many people who heard tales about Maleficent. For it seems that while watching over Aurora, probably to make sure the curse would work, Maleficent grew attached to the princess. Aurora describes best how Maleficent truly watched over her.

"My whole life, as far as I can remember, I have had the impression that a shadow followed me everywhere I went. Not a frightening shadow, but a caring one, who was always there for me. I have vague memories of being saved on multiple occasions by inexplicable ways, such as when I ran off a cliff at the age of five six and I was saved by moving tree branches that brought me back on the grass."

At the age of fifteen, Aurora eventually wandered far from her home and walked into the wilderness Maleficent protected. The witch who never allowed any human into those territories let Aurora walk in, and even led her to this place.

"My first look at the Moors was one of wonder and marvel that has never left me ever since. It was populated with beautiful creatures I had never seen before, who illuminated the night with their own lights. Then the fairies who flew around me dispersed, as if something frightened them. Left alone, I felt once again that someone was watching me. I never felt alone in my whole life, but this time I sensed that the shadow who looked after me since my birth was very close. For the first time in my life, I gathered the courage to call her, not knowing if she would answer. The answer came as a deep, feminine, distinguished voice who warned I was going to be afraid. And although I assured her I wouldn't be, a part of me was indeed afraid. This part almost took over when the shadow began to approach, and what I saw was a very tall dark figure with horns and a stick at hand. But then the shadow came out of the dark and was illuminated by the moonlight. The shadow was a very tall, elegant woman with straight features and very bright green eyes. This was no longer a shadow. It was my fairy godmother."

After that, Maleficent and Aurora grew closer. Aurora often left her home to wander in the Moors under Maleficent's supervision. Aurora was fascinated by the magical creatures Maleficent protected and took care of, which brought the two women closer and closer with time. Maleficent eventually even tried, on multiple occasions, to revoke the curse she cast on the princess when she was a baby, but without success.

The day before her sixteenth birthday, Aurora decided to leave her home and live in the Moors like Maleficent. It might have been an attempt from Maleficent to save the princess and keep her away from any spinning wheel in the wilderness.

"When I came to announce my decision to my three godmothers who raised me, they were stunned and shocked, even angry at me. One of them inadvertently revealed that my father was still alive. From then, they told me the entire truth. I learned this day that I was a princess, and that my parents hid me after a dark witch cast a curse on me. I ran away from my home and went to see my fairy godmother immediately. When I asked her why she didn't tell me about the curse, assuming she must have known all this time but nothing more, she only confirmed with a few words that the curse was real. And when I told her it was an evil fairy who did this, she whispered her name. Maleficent. For a time, I was confused. My fairy godmother looked… ashamed. She had never looked like this before. She was always so elegant, distinguished, calm. I had never seen her like this. That is when I understood. She was the one who cursed me. All of a sudden, and for the only time in my life, I viewed my fairy godmother as the evil in this world."

Aurora then went to her father's castle and shortly met him, but she was imprisoned alone in a room. Around sunset, like the curse predicted, she pricked her finger at the spindle of a spinning wheel in this room, and she was plunged into a deep sleep. In the meantime, Maleficent had caught a prince who had met Aurora shortly before, and she brought him to the castle in the hope that a kiss would save Aurora. According to the Wizards' Council, it is this kiss that saved Aurora from a deep sleep. But if we are to believe Aurora herself, it was instead a kiss on the forehead that Maleficent gave her after the prince's kiss failed that woke her up.

But King Stefan had set up a trap for Maleficent in which she fell as she and Aurora were attempting to leave the castle. And again, Aurora's memoirs give us most of the details about this confrontation. Maleficent was quickly cornered by King Stefan and his soldiers, who may have used weapons specifically designed to fight magic. Maleficent's powers proved insufficient to defeat them, although her summoning of a dragon rebalanced the fight for a moment. Aurora did not participate to the battle, taking refuge in a storage room while her biological father and the woman she almost viewed as a mother faced each other.

"I wish that I helped Maleficent more back then. But I was never taught to fight. I was a girl from the countryside who grew up with animals and knew nothing of violence or hatred. However, when I found myself in that storage room, there was one thing that immediately caught my attention. It was a tall, lean, glass cupboard facing the door from which I arrived, strangely reminding me of my fairy godmother by its shape. And there was something inside, that I first mistook for a giant bird put into a cage, though it didn't move. Upon closer inspection, I realized this was no bird. These were wings. Only wings, without the animal to who they belonged. And what seemed like a trophy moved on its own. It was as if the wings were trying to get free. I then remembered a discussion I had with Maleficent a long time ago. I had noticed that all fairies had wings, except her, and asked her why she had no wings. The answer she gave me was clear in my mind, as if she said it only yesterday, for it was one of the very few moments when I saw Maleficent vulnerable and sad. "I had wings once. They were stolen from me. They were so big they dragged behind me when I walked. And they were strong. They could carry me above the clouds and into the headwinds. And they never faltered, not even once. I could trust them." On the moment, I didn't understand that my father was the one who stole Maleficent's wings. I only understood that these were her wings, and that I had to set them free. I toppled the cupboard, breaking the glass, and the wings flew free towards their owner. When I ran into the throne room, Maleficent was flying high, her large wings deployed, so wide that they seemed almost as large as the room itself. Maleficent released Diaval [the dragon], but my father attached himself to her with iron chains. My fairy godmother then broke through the windows giving on the outside and flew into the skies, my father gripping her by the foot. This was the last time I saw my father alive."

There is no eye witness as to what happened afterwards. The Wizards' Council claimed that Maleficent killed Stefan by dropping his body from the skies to let it break on the ground near his castle. However, according to Aurora, although Maleficent almost killed King Stefan, she finally spared him, but Stefan fell from the top of the highest tower of his castle either by committing suicide or in a last failed attempt to kill Maleficent. (We consider the latter hypothesis to be the most likely, as Maleficent is known to have always given a chance to people who violated the lands she protected to leave unscathed, even King Henry. Despite her favourable opinion of Maleficent, Aurora remains the closest source to the events that took place this night, and the records of the Wizards' Council show little proof that Stefan was truly murdered.)

With King Stefan and Queen Leila dead, and Aurora being their only child, the princess became queen. She declared out of bounds for humans the areas of wilderness Maleficent had taken to protect, and Maleficent removed the natural barriers she had erected under Stefan's rule to protect these areas. By all accounts, Aurora would be a queen way more appreciated by Muggles in her kingdom, and her bond with Maleficent helped to end, or at least significantly reduce, the clashes between magical creatures and humans. Though if Maleficent got along much better with humans after this, the Wizards' Council continued to regard her as a threat to their tranquility. She had killed two Muggle kings, cursed a princess, and provoked tensions and fighting between wizards and Muggles, only to protect magical creatures. And events at the beginning of Queen Aurora's reign seemed to prove that Maleficent was not over causing problems.

Queen Aurora's rule was fragile when she succeeded her father. The nobility of the kingdom had recognized her to be their queen out of necessity, very few of them wanting to rule a kingdom whose two previous kings were killed by a sorceress, infested with magical creatures who fought human presence. Since she got along with Maleficent, nobles certainly hoped that Aurora could prevent her from annihilating them. But the first real danger to Aurora's reign instead came from other humans.

A neighboring kingdom led by a king and queen named John and Ingrith decided to invade Aurora's lands, probably thinking she would oppose little resistance as she was a woman of only sixteen. The war was short, but we know that Maleficent participated to it, along with other magical creatures, defending Aurora's kingdom, protecting the people they once considered as enemies. The Wizards' Council claims that Maleficent killed Queen Ingrith during this conflict, though this fact is never mentioned in Aurora's memoirs and must then be considered at least with caution. The conflict ended with Aurora marrying Prince Phillip, the son of King John and Queen Ingrith. This was the only time Maleficent participated to a mainly human conflict.

Maleficent seems to have been some sort of advisor to Aurora, especially in the beginning of her rule. She most likely led her armies during the war that followed her accession to the throne, and Aurora herself reports that Maleficent and her creatures often brought her information about events happening inside and outside her kingdom. Maleficent was opposed to Aurora's marriage to Phillip, probably considering him to be a threat for the young woman she viewed as her daughter, but Aurora writes that she eventually warmed up to her husband, as Aurora's and Phillip's marriage proved to be based on love rather than politics in the end. Maleficent even became the godmother of their first daughter.

However, in the following years, mentions of Maleficent in the records of the Wizards' Council grow rarer, to the point when they eventually disappeared. Aurora confirms that Maleficent spent more and more time outside her castle, and that she increasingly saw her more rarely. At the end of her life, like she wrote in her memoirs then, it had been years since Queen Aurora had not seen the woman she wrongly assumed to be a fairy.

"Today, as I feel my forces leaving, I wonder where Maleficent is. It has been so long since I last saw her. Phillip is gone. Our children are now adults, and they have children of their own. I know I don't have much time left to live. My only wish is that I could see my fairy godmother one last time before I am reunited with Phillip."

If we are to believe scribblings that were allegedly added by the first daughter of Aurora at the end of her memoirs following her death (though the authenticity of these scribblings is contested by some), Aurora's last wish was granted.

"Today, Mother was buried. These were huge funerals, grander than any I ever saw. We were all there. My husband, my brothers, my sisters, my children and theirs, my nephews and nieces, kings and queens from neighboring lands, diplomats, lords and ladies, the gentry, and the whole people. I could barely hold myself during the ceremony, and only Maleficent's presence helped me to get through the whole ordeal.

It was good to see Maleficent again. It had been years since I last saw her. During her last weeks, Mother kept asking for her fairy godmother, wanting to see her before she died. I don't know how Maleficent knew, but she showed up the day before my mother passed away. She was just as tall, elegant, distinguished and proud as I remembered her. She didn't seem to have aged a day since my childhood. And it was the first and only time I saw her cry.

And now she is gone. Only a few hours after the funerals were over, Maleficent was gone. I was the last person to see her before she left. I asked her if she would ever come back, and she replied "maybe", just before taking flight. I hope she will come back. I hope I will get to see her again, like my mother did.

But maybe she isn't as far as I think she is. Mother often used to tell us how, ever since her birth, she felt a shadow following her, watching over her, protecting her in the dark, until one day this shadow revealed herself to be Maleficent. I have had the same impression during my whole childhood up until my wedding. And sometimes, my son tells me that someone is following him. He often says that he sees a terrifying shadow lurking around.

In some way, even if I never get to see Maleficent again, I feel reassured to know that she is watching over my child, just like she watched over me and my mother at the same age."

After this, all mentions of Maleficent disappear from historical records. It is unknown when she died, and some even claim that Maleficent might still be alive today, watching over and protecting the descendants of Queen Aurora and the magical creatures she dedicated her whole life to protect.

Maleficent was without any doubt a very powerful witch, despite her less than stellar academic records. She doesn't seem to have impressed anybody at Hogwarts or Beauxbatons during her brief time in those schools. Even the scribbling in the book of Hogwarts' library show that whoever wrote it viewed Maleficent with disdain. Her true potential only revealed itself after she left school. She held significant mastery of powers including levitation, healing, apparition, transfiguration, control of life, camouflage, invisibility, blasting and many others, not to mention the ability to cast curses that the most powerful wizards of this time could not break. Though Maleficent's inability to revoke the curse she cast herself may also indicate that she used magic she did not fully understand. It is unknown how Maleficent learned to use all this magic, which she obviously learned after she left school. She may have been taught by other wizards, but the most likely explanation is that Maleficent never felt comfortable in school, where she was downgraded by others, and that her abilities truly bloomed only after she left it. She may have been one of the greatest self-taught witches of all times and developed her own magic in a way no one else learned, which might explain why her curse was so difficult to remove for wizards who did not understand her powers.

Maleficent is often depicted through history as a ruthless murderer, since she potentially killed three kings and queens, in addition to the many people who died entering her domains and the curse she put on an innocent baby. Her contemporaries mostly viewed her as a threat to their tranquility and safety, as Maleficent did not hesitate to confront and fight Muggle kings and lords. But the facts suggest that Maleficent was in fact a strong believer that magical creatures and beings deserved to have their own rights and lands. In an era when the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was not yet implemented, and when wizards themselves didn't consider the rights of magical beings to be of importance, Maleficent decided to be their protector and to take all necessary measures to ensure their safety. In fact, she never attacked Muggle kingdoms. In all conflicts she had with them, she was on the defensive side. People who wandered into these lands and returned often confirmed that Maleficent confronted them and let them go with a warning. They may have been terrified by her, but in the end, she seems to have always given a chance to people to let magical beings quiet. (Of course, it is impossible to know if she did let a chance to the people she actually killed.) The only case when she didn't act in legitimate defence was when she cursed Princess Aurora, a curse she eventually removed.

Today, we must view Maleficent as a precursor of militants for the protection of magical beasts and beings. Her methods might have been brutal, even for the period in which she lived, but her main concern seems to have always been the protection of magical creatures. Centuries after her estimated time of death, when Newt Scamander worked for the Ministry of Magic, he mentioned her in a draft memo supporting the adoption of more stringent laws to protect magical creatures.

"The protection of magical beasts and beings by the Ministry of Magic in an organized, efficient and systematic manner is crucial not only to enforce Clause 73 of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy and avoid sanctions from the International Confederation of Wizards, but also to prevent militants for the protection of magical beasts and beings from taking matters into their own hands in the absence of authorities' intervention, which can result in accidents and breaches of the Statute, such as the one the author of this memo unfortunately contributed to in New York in 1926. In extreme cases, it could even lead individual wizards to the use violence in order to protect creatures, as it happened in the past with individuals such as Maleficent during the fourteenth century, when no authority was there to protect beasts and beings, a situation that even led to wars." (It is interesting to note that Maleficent is not mentioned in the final version of the memo. Maybe Scamander's supervisor didn't think he would be taken seriously if he mentioned a fairy tale character.)

The areas that Maleficent called the Moors are today safe habitats for the many magical creatures who are living there. The Ministry of Magic of Great Britain and Ireland now ensures that Muggles and wizards alike stay away from these wild areas, guaranteeing the protection of magical beasts and beings in non-lethal ways. For the people who value these creatures, this is probably Maleficent's greatest legacy, far more significant than a character in a Disney movie.

Susan wasn't sure how to react after reading this. It was odd to read about a person who she always viewed as a fairy tale character. Of course, she was aware that people who were part of the Muggle folklore and legends truly existed. Such were the cases of Merlin and Morgan, for example. They both attended Hogwarts, and even had their Chocolate Frog cards like Dumbledore. But Maleficent? Susan had never heard that she truly existed, even less that her story was quite different from the movie.

"Well, that is… unexpected," she told her friend.

"True," Hannah confirmed. "That is not the kind of thing Professor Binns teaches us. Though if he had, we might not have remembered it. Or listened to him."

Both girls chuckled. No one, save a few exceptions like Hermione, managed to remain focused in Binns' classes. And even then, lately, Hermione herself had struggled to follow Binns' lessons. She confessed to Susan that she missed the entire second half of the last lesson, asking to see Susan's notes to complete her own. Hermione also made Susan promise that she wouldn't talk about it to Harry or Ron.

"It is difficult to find History of Magic interesting with Binns," Susan acknowledged. She looked at the book of biographies in front of her. "Can I borrow it? It might be useful for my own research."

"Oh, yes. Of course. I'm done using it, anyway," Hannah replied.

Susan turned the pages back to the index. The volume was heavy. There were biographies of so many people inside that it weighed over a ton. This included biographies of Merlin, Dumbledore, Newt Scamander, Morgan, Grindelwald, even Voldemort among those names Susan recognized. But there were also many names she never or barely heard of. Though there was one that grabbed her attention. Marie-Josephte Corriveau. Her mother had once told her about this legend of her home country. But it wasn't the name Susan was looking for. She finally found it after fumbling through the long index. Shuriki. She looked at the number of the page and went there. At the top of the page, there was a drawing of a black-haired, pale-skin witch dressed with a certain elegance, but also with a mischievous facial expression. Susan had no trouble believing this was a witch who created a spell meant to kill. She began to read about her.

SHURIKI

Shuriki was a Scandinavian witch born centuries ago, before the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was enacted. She is most well known for being one of the few witches to have ruled over a Muggle kingdom, for creating the Vadisima spell, a curse similar to the well-known Killing Curse, and also for mastering the Scepter of Night, a powerful magical artifact similar to a wand but more powerful.

Very little is known of Shuriki's birth and childhood. Most historians today agree that she came from Scandinavia, as the few testimonies of her physical appearance and accent prove she was from northern European origins. Many believe that she attended the Durmstrang Institute in her youth, although this is impossible to confirm due to Durmstrang's refusal to grant access to its archives. Many clues however point towards this, and since the Durmstrang Institute never confirmed nor refuted this fact, historians have come to consider that Shuriki is among the many dark wizards who attended the infamous school.

Even less is known about Shuriki's whereabouts between her probable leaving of Durmstrang and her arrival in the Kingdom of Avalor. She probably kept studying and searching into dark arts for years before finally setting her eyes on this Latin kingdom. It is very likely during this period that she created the Vadisima Curse, a death spell similar to the Killing Curse as we know it today. Shuriki seeming to refer a kanji phrase meaning "Power to end everything", it is highly probable that "Shuriki" was not her real name, and that she either chose this name for herself, or that chroniclers and historians gave her that name. This makes investigating her early life especially difficult. Whatever this woman's real name was, it is her actions under the name of Shuriki in Avalor that gave her renown and historical significance.

The Kingdom of Avalor was a powerful and rich Latin country, headed by King Raul Castillo, and his wife, Queen Lucia Flores. With the help of a few accomplices, including cousins of the king, Shuriki managed to break into their castle and to murder the king and queen, using the Vadisima Curse she invented herself. She also allegedly murdered their eldest daughter and heir, Princess Elena Castillo Flores, using the same spell, then seized the throne of Avalor and ruled the country for forty-one years.

Shuriki's reign, which is one of the few times in history when a witch or wizard ruled an entire country, proved to be despotic, tyrannical and brutal. Shuriki gathered the wealth of Avalor into her hands and destroyed any opposition to her rule. Many people are reported to disappear during her rule, mostly individuals close to the royal family or who dared to criticize Shuriki. These people were likely murdered or worse. She also banned the use of magic in the Kingdom of Avalor and isolated the country from the rest of the world, not allowing anyone outside of Avalor to know that a witch had overthrown the royal family and was now ruling the kingdom.

Despite Shuriki's isolationist policy and tyranny, the Kingdom of Avalor enjoyed a great burst of prosperity under her rule. The position of the kingdom made it a crucial harbor and trade hub, and although the remainder of the population suffered at the hands of Shuriki, merchants seem to have considerably enriched themselves during her reign. It looks like Shuriki tolerated the enrichment of merchants as long as it enriched her as well, and as long as they didn't question her rule. Many believe that the growing prosperity of the Kingdom of Avalor during her rule was due to her chancellor's policies, Esteban, a cousin of the deceased king and queen who sided with Shuriki after the royal family was murdered. While Esteban increased the wealth of the kingdom, especially of Shuriki, the witch remained in her palace, living in luxury. Some historians believe that after seizing Avalor, Shuriki was content with this kingdom and spent the forty-one following years enjoying its wealth. Others believe she used this time to further develop her magical powers, though the proofs of both hypothesis are nonexistent.

The rule of Shuriki came to an end after forty-one years when Elena Castillo Flores, the daughter of the king and queen who Shuriki presumed to be dead, resurfaced. This must have been a surprise to everyone including Shuriki herself, who believed to have killed Princess Elena along with her parents. The princess rallied the people of Avalor and led a popular revolt against Shuriki. This shows how Shuriki's hold on power must have been fragile and how disconnected she was from the people of the country as she remained hidden inside her palace for decades. During a duel that various legends report very differently, Elena broke Shuriki's wand, depriving the dark witch of most of her powers. Shuriki was then assumed to be dead by the rest of the kingdom, and Elena Castillo Flores became the new ruler of Avalor.

Unknown to many, Shuriki was still alive, hiding while she recovered her forces. About two years after her downfall, Shuriki tried to murder Princess Elena again to recover the throne of Avalor she just lost, but Elena broke her wand for a second time. Shuriki was forced into hiding once again, but this time people were aware that she was still alive, and she was chased wherever she went. She managed to build the Scepter of Night, a powerful dark magic artifact that made her powers even stronger, and that prompted her to make a fourth attempt on Princess Elena's life.

Shuriki reproduced the plan she had put into place over forty years ago and allied herself yet again with cousins of Princess Elena to overthrow and kill her once and for all. The plan turned sour though, and when Shuriki faced Elena for the fourth and last time, the dark witch was defeated for good and killed. After that, no one ever heard of Shuriki again.

Centuries later, in the debates around the adoption of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy, Shuriki was mentioned as an example of what may happen if wizards were allowed to rule over Muggles they would consider to be inferior to them. Some circles in the wizarding world have for a time held Shuriki in high esteem as one of the few witches to ever truly rule a kingdom, but the despotic and tyrannical nature of her rule, the evil she committed with her magic make this witch a counterexample as to who a witch living among Muggles, and even a witch short, should be.

This short biography contained many useful information on the Vadisima Curse, which Susan copied aside on parchment. There was also a name in the dark witch's biography that attracted her attention. Elena Castillo Flores. Susan was sure to have seen it before. She went back to the beginning of the book and found it in the index. She then went to read it.

ELENA CASTILLO FLORES OF AVALOR

Elena Castillo Flores, Princess, then Crown Princess, then Queen of the Kingdom of Avalor, is a Muggle-born witch of Latin origins, born long before the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy was adopted.

The statute of Princess Elena as a witch has been and is still being hotly debated by historians and scholars, which is not helped by the legends surrounding her. However, historical documents, legends and archeological evidence agree on the fact that Elena did have magical powers. Some historians have cast doubt on Princess Elena even displaying magical powers, going as far as to depict any historical document testifying about her powers as being frauds or inaccurate, but this assessment does not resist the study of these documents. Others continue to claim that Elena was not born with magical powers, and that she illicitly gained them after her birth. Considering there is no documented case of any Muggle gaining magical powers, and that the most recent research seem to show that people have magic within them at their birth, it seems like historians and scholars' resistance to acknowledge Elena as a witch is mostly due to prejudice against Muggle-born individuals from early historians that biased their judgment and influenced more recent historians who did not have the same prejudice. However, impartial examination of all historical proofs and legends show that Elena was born with magic, and that she is in fact one of the very few known Muggle-born witches to have ruled over a kingdom. As such, we include her in this list of biographies of famous wizards and witches.

Elena is the elder daughter of Raul Castillo, King of Avalor, and his wife, Queen Lucia Flores. Elena grew up in comfort and luxury, in a wealthy country at peace with its neighbors. From her birth, Elena was prepared to rule the Kingdom of Avalor. She received the best education a princess could expect, having the best tutors and professors preparing her for the day she would rule her father's kingdom. Among her tutors was the Royal Wizard of Avalor, Alacazar. Since Elena never attended a wizarding school, Alacazar was probably the first person to teach her magic in her childhood. A proof that magic was part of Elena's life from the very beginning, she received a magical amulet for her fifteenth birthday, an amulet she wore at all times afterwards.

The happy childhood of Elena came to an end when she was sixteen. She witnessed her parents being killed by the dark witch Shuriki, then she faced the dark witch herself. The battle must have been short. Elena had little chance against a witch far older and more experienced than she was, and Shuriki quickly dealt with Elena by casting the Vadisima Curse on her, believing to have killed the princess along with her parents.

Elena, however, had not died. The magical amulet around her neck protected her, and she was imprisoned in the amulet to prevent her from being killed by Shuriki's curse. (It is important to note that, although Elena survived a curse specifically designed to kill, she is not considered to have survived a Killing Curse. The Vadisima curse significantly diverged from the Killing Curse, and scholars consider these two to be very different. As such, at the time of writing, Harry Potter is considered to be the only known individual to have ever survived the Killing Curse.) For the following years, Elena remained hidden inside the amulet, gathering wisdom and knowledge as the amulet changed hands multiple times. In the meantime, Shuriki ruled the Kingdom of Avalor, certain that all opposition to her rule had been eliminated. When Elena was finally released from the amulet forty-one years later, she came back to Avalor, wiser though still looking to be only sixteen-years-old.

Shuriki was deeply surprised when Elena resurfaced. The people of Avalor, who suffered for decades under Shuriki's iron grip, seized the opportunity and rose in revolt behind the returning princess. Little details are available concerning the revolt, but legends seem to corroborate the few writings we have, and within a single day, Shuriki was overthrown. Accounts differ greatly as to how Elena defeated Shuriki, but all agree that Elena and the dark witch faced each other. Elena was no longer the teenager who just witnessed her parents' death that Shuriki easily defeated decades ago. All accounts agree that the duel ended with Elena breaking Shuriki's wand, and the dark witch was forced into fleeing, presumed to be dead.

With Shuriki gone and her parents dead, Elena was to rule the Kingdom of Avalor. However, despite spending decades hidden in an amulet, Elena was still considered by the laws of Avalor to be sixteen-years-old, the amulet having halted her aging while she was inside. The Constitution didn't allow for kings or queens to be crowned before the age of twenty. As such, Elena ruled as Crown Princess for the first four years of her reign, assisted by a Grand Council who supervised her.

It is those four years as Crown Princess that are the most covered by legends, coming from both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds, but also by historical records. One of our main sources happen to be the journal of Princess Isabel, Elena's younger sister. Some fragments have reached us, and one of them recounts Elena's first display of magic in public, during the ceremony that saw her officially become Crown Princess of Avalor.

"After Elena chose the four members of the Grand Council (Esteban looked very worried that he might not be selected for it), she then swore her oath: "Today, I vow to protect and defend the Kingdom of Avalor as Crown Princess." Armando then handed her the royal scepter that our father used to hold during ceremonies and formal events. It made me feel strange to see the Scepter of Avalor in the hands of my sister. But that feeling was quickly washed away when the scepter glowed very brightly the moment Elena seized it. Everyone looked surprised and awed, me being the first. Elena looked just as surprised, but I doubt the others noticed it given their own awe. But the jaquins showed up at this moment and everyone forgot about it. I wonder why the scepter shone like this. Maybe I should try to find out why."

The Scepter of Avalor, also called the Scepter of Light depending on the source, seems to have been a powerful magical artifact with a use similar to that of a wand. Nothing seems to suggest that Elena built it, and it was rather an old magical object passed from one Muggle king to the next, each ignoring its magical properties, until it ended in Elena's hands. In the years that followed, Elena's magical abilities manifested more and more. From what we can deduce from legends and historical evidence, it seems Elena's powers were superior to that of many wizards of witches of her time and even today, although their applications seem to have been limited due to a lack of training or even consciousness from Elena's part about the real nature of her power. Princess Isabel testifies, a few months after her beginning as Crown Princess, when Elena used her powers to save her from a dark magical creature during a solar eclipse, that Elena needed several days to recover from her first uses of the scepter, which seemed to drain her energy, and that Elena herself claimed that she was no witch or wizard, but only a normal person with some magic within her, a magic that the scepter could channel.

Historical evidence, coupled with legends, suggest that Elena was able to use various magical powers such as levitation, blasting, revelation, shielding, disappearance, growing of life, and that the very light of her scepter could harm and even destroy dark creatures. Maybe Elena never considered herself to be a witch, but she definitely was one, and if she had followed a more organized, modern, magical instruction, she might have been even more powerful.

The coming of Elena on the throne, even only as Crown Princess, was a source of happiness for the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Avalor. After the long and brutal reign of Shuriki, she embodied all the hopes the inhabitants of the kingdom had for a better, brighter future. They had spent decades wishing for the previous monarchy of her parents to be reinstated, thinking this was impossible, but now, a princess who they believed to be dead returned and overthrown the tyrant. As such, it is no surprise that people like her master wizard, who reported on her introduction as Crown Princess years later in his memoirs, described it in a more significant historical importance.

"The moment Elena seized her scepter and it magically glowed, you could feel that a new era was about to begin. Shuriki brutalized us for over forty years. I myself never got the chance to know my grandfather because of her. That Elena came back after so long was a miracle. When she was proclaimed Crown Princess and her scepter brightly shone, everyone in the kingdom knew that the dark times were over, and no one doubted that the future would be bright with light."

Despite the optimism displayed by the population of Avalor following Shuriki's death, Princess Elena had to face several challenges and life-threatening dangers very early in her reign. Again, legends blurry the picture and suggest that the new Crown Princess confronted and defeated threats for Avalor on a daily basis. When we consider archeological and historical documentation evidence though, it cannot be disputed that her four-year period as Crown Princess was tumultuous. Elena clearly had to face various magical threats of dark nature, possibly the consequence of Shuriki's rule that might have allowed them to settle in Avalor. Considering her long reign, it is clear Elena dealt efficiently with those threats, often endangering her own life in the process.

The most dangerous threat Elena faced at the beginning, however, was Shuriki's machinations to overthrow her again. Following her defeat, Shuriki gathered dark mages around her, along with a few dissatisfied members of Avalor's nobility who benefitted from her rule, to prepare her own coup d'etat against Elena. Two years after Shuriki was overthrown, she managed to infiltrate the royal palace and tried to murder Elena.

If sources are unclear about details surrounding the two first confrontations between Elena and Shuriki, the third is better reported, although there are divergences between accounts. What is certain is that Shuriki failed to kill Elena, and that the Crown Princess used the Scepter of Light to destroy Shuriki's wand a second time. Despite this, Shuriki managed to escape and survived to fight another day.

Elena deployed gigantic means to capture Shuriki. Not only the dark witch was a threat to her rule, but she was also the woman who murdered Elena's parents right in front of her. Elena participated directly to the search efforts to capture Shuriki, nearly succeeding to capture her once. In the meantime, however, Shuriki managed to build the Scepter of Night, a magical artifact very similar to Elena's Specter of Light, but channeling dark magic. When Shuriki felt ready, she set another trap for Elena, and the two women faced each other in a duel for the fourth and last time.

This duel is the most documented of Elena's life, but also the one most covered by legends. As such, many versions of it exist. We will not cover them all, but the most reliable sources indicate that it happened at the top of a tower, and that Elena managed to make herself invisible during the duel, right when Shuriki threw a curse supposed to kill the princess. Persuaded that Elena was destroyed for good, Shuriki's last image was that of the princess reappearing right in front of her eyes and blasting her with the Scepter of Light, destroying both Shuriki and the Scepter of Night in the process.

With Shuriki gone, Elena's problems were not over yet. A small group of dark wizards, some of them likely were previous allies of Shuriki, continued to cause problems in Avalor and to oppose Elena's reign. This allegedly culminated with a new attempt to overthrow Elena on her coronation day, when she was to officially become queen at the age of twenty. Details are scarce about this day, fragments from the most reliable sources we have focusing on the coronation ceremony and quickly mentioning the events that preceded it. An alliance of dark wizards, helped with dark magical creatures, and maybe supported by Elena's own cousin, chancellor Esteban, managed to temporarily seize the royal palace and to plunge the capital city into chaos.

(It is unclear whether Esteban truly participated to this plot and, if he did, his level of involvement. A cousin of Elena, Esteban had been one of the very few members of Avalor's royal family to be spared by Shuriki when she seized power. Some suggest that he actually helped her to seize the throne the first time, a theory which is encouraged by the fact he was Shuriki's chancellor during her whole reign. But some sources report that Esteban also helped Elena to overthrow Shuriki when she reappeared, and that he was her chancellor for most of her time as Crown Princess. There seems to have been a certain fallout between Elena and her cousin in the latest part of her time as Crown Princess though. Esteban was no longer her chancellor at the end of this period. Whether he betrayed Elena and joined the rebels, or Elena removed him from his position because she discovered his potential role in the murder of her parents, or she simply wanted to rule without a chancellor is a matter of debate given the conflicting sources. It seems however that, whatever the role Esteban might have played in this attempt to overthrow Elena, she eventually forgave him, as he returned to be her chancellor years later, and Elena built a large mausoleum for him when he died. One of the fragments of Princess Isabel's journal is probably the most indicative of the feelings Elena had for her cousin. « I believe that one of Elena's deepest regrets in life is to not have been able to forgive Esteban sooner. » Elena is said to have silently cried during the whole funerals when her cousin died.)

Whatever the dark mages and their allies tried, they failed miserably. Elena and her own allies defeated them fairly quickly and, if legends are to be believed, this very same night, on the day of her twentieth anniversary, Elena was crowned Queen of Avalor.

The history of Elena's reign as queen is not as rich with details through legends or as well documented as her short period as Crown Princess. Probably because the biggest challenges Elena faced happened during the beginning of her rule, when she was not yet queen, and because her magical powers first appeared during this period. All sources agree though that the long, peaceful and prosperous reign of Queen Elena of Avalor lasted for over a hundred years, and that her people mourned her deeply when she passed away.

Here comes the time to analyze Elena, both as a ruler and as a witch, given her historical significance. Elena was definitely a powerful witch, but she never reached her full potential. Part of this can be explained by the fact she never considered herself to be a witch. She grew up being persuaded that she was a normal member of any royal family, without anything special. She was also persuaded afterwards that whatever magical powers she had was owed to the amulet in which she was imprisoned for forty-one years. As such, her knowledge of magic was limited. Also, Elena never fully dedicated herself to training and research on her magical abilities. She viewed herself as the ruler of Avalor first and foremost, and as such she developed her powers only as long as she viewed them as useful to rule her kingdom and protect her people. She never truly studied magic and always viewed it from a purely practical point of view. If Elena had developed her abilities further, who knows how powerful she would have become. Still, it is hard to not admire her magical powers, considering the various magical threats she put down during her long reign, her survival to a curse meant to kill, and her famous victory over Shuriki, one of the most powerful dark witches of her time.

Even more interesting though is the analysis of Elena's reign, both as Crown Princess and Queen of Avalor. Though first it is important to delineate her personality. Elena had grown up in luxury and privilege. However, she doesn't seem to have been spoiled or pampered. She took her future role as queen very seriously early on, dedicating her entire childhood to learning how to rule. She was also very courageous, as shown by her will to face Shuriki alone on multiple occasions, despite not being powerful enough the first times, and despite the traumatizing memory of her parents' death at the hands of this dark witch later. She didn't hesitate to put her life in danger to save others and was obviously willing to fight and die for what she believed in.

Elena must be viewed as a very independent woman, especially for her time. When she came out of the amulet after forty-one years, even though she was still physically sixteen-years-old, she had wisdom and experience like few people of her age could claim. She also managed to survive within this amulet alone for decades. In addition to her education that instilled the idea that she was destined to be queen no matter what, Elena was as a result headstrong, sometimes overconfident in her capacities, and considered herself very capable to ruling the Kingdom of Avalor. This created frictions between her and her Grand Council, and later with her advisors, who sometimes didn't share her opinions and disapproved of her tendency of put her own life in danger. This princess, then queen, often thought she could rule her kingdom alone. She went so far as to rule without a chancellor in the last days of her time as Crown Princess. In the end though, and especially as her reign advanced, Elena learned to take into consideration the opinion of her advisors, although she always maintained her right to take the final decision.

Despite these flaws, Elena is described in all legends as the perfect example of a benevolent ruler, always taking decisions for the good of the people she ruled. Although the truth may be more complex and Elena was clearly not perfect, one cannot deny that her reign was overall peaceful, devoid of war and conflicts, and that the people of Avalor saw their prosperity and life standards improve significantly while she sat on the throne.

Elena's image as a benevolent ruler was definitely encouraged by the fact she replaced and succeeded to a tyrannical monarch like Shuriki. Her governing approach was clearly at odds with that of the woman who murdered her parents. On her first day as Crown Princess, Elena went to visit the population of the city, and everywhere she went, her first question was What can I do for you? This became a staple of her reign, where the queen always asked people what she could do for them wherever she went. She was reported to have far less luxurious tastes than Shuriki, and to have distributed a large part of her wealth to the poorest inhabitants of her kingdom.

It is unquestionable that Elena was appreciated and even loved by a large part of the population of Avalor. She was also very much appreciated on the international stage, signing several alliances and treaties with other countries over her reign, getting Avalor out of its isolation. She avoided wars and conflicts while she stayed on the throne, and most of the people of Avalor led a quiet, peaceful and prosperous life while she remained their queen.

The prosperity of Avalor reached highs during her reign. Although some argue that Elena benefitted from the wealth previously accumulated by Shuriki, and that most of the economic success under her reign is due to the work of her cousin and chancellor, Esteban, none can argue that Elena still played a vital role in increasing the prosperity of the kingdom and that she used this wealth very wisely. The inhabitants of her kingdom saw their life conditions significantly improve during her tenure. It is also very doubtful that a queen with such a reputation for independence and sometimes stubbornness cannot be at least partially credited for the wealth of her country.

It is difficult to determine when Elena died. According to all sources, she had a very long reign. Some legends go as far as to attribute her a reign of over two hundred years. This is highly unlikely, despite her young age when she arrived on the throne and the fact that, being a witch, she obviously had a much longer life expectancy than her Muggle subjects. However, no historical record clearly indicates when she died. What we know is that she survived all her family members. Even her little sister, Princess Isabel, died before her. It is likely, according to recent archeological findings, that Elena ruled over Avalor for over a hundred years and died as old as one hundred and fifty years of age (not taking into account the forty-one years she spent in an amulet). She died childless, having never married, and no one knows what happened to the Kingdom of Avalor after her disappearance.

Today, in the wizarding communities of South and Central America, the Queen Elena Castillo Flores of Avalor is often referred as the perfect example of a magical ruler there for the well-being of his people. Stories about her are often told to children before they go to bed, recounted during public ceremonies, feasts and celebrations, and cited by politicians to support or oppose an idea. While most of those stories are legends and don't pass the test of historical accuracy, Elena has become a legendary and model figure for Latin wizards, and she continues to inspire people to this day.

This biography was filled with even more useful information. After another hour, Susan thought she had enough, and she began to write her dissertation.

She began with an introduction mentioning the Killing Curse and explaining how it wasn't the only curse ever invented that could cause death. From there, she linked it to the Vadisima Curse, and enumerated what the dissertation would show.

The main body of the dissertation started with a short story of Shuriki, given she was the spell's creator and sole user. Susan then went on to discuss how the curse was likely invented and used through history. Then she explained its effects and what differentiated it from the Killing Curse. She was about to write down the cases of failure of this curse when she heard a sound that was already too familiar.

"Hem, hem."

Susan turned her head towards the origin of the cough. She was frustrated that she was right. Dolores Umbridge was in the library. What was she doing here, late in the evening? Which professor did she hope to surprise teaching here at this hour so she could judge him? She was leaning towards a student, a Ravenclaw in third year, who looked intimidated.

Susan turned her back on Umbridge, focusing on her homework again. She despised this woman. Between what her aunt told Susan about Umbridge, the way this woman treated her at Harry's trial and the way she treated professors, Susan could only feel contempt for Umbridge. This woman was there, judging people while having nothing to suggest in return, and deciding their fate on her whims.

Susan struggled to focus on her homework as she heard Umbridge discuss with students with her high-pitched voice. The voice was hard to ignore, especially as Susan felt her approaching. Hannah was no longer at her table. Susan was all alone. She envied her friends who left for their common room earlier and had the chance to avoid that woman.

Susan hoped that Umbridge wouldn't stop at her. She heard her more distinctively each time asking students about their teachers, orienting the questions in such a way that students ended up saying something negative about their professors, even when it wasn't what they meant. Many questions concerned Harry's mother. She also told each and every student to come and see her if anyone, from another student to Dumbledore and including teachers, did things that were badly viewed by the Ministry. And sadly, soon, Susan felt the presence of the High Inquisitor next to her. And she heard the distinctive cough.

Susan stopped writing for a moment, but she decided to continue. All she heard was a cough. There was nothing indicating to her that Umbridge wanted to speak with her. All she heard was coughing. Maybe she had a cold. If only she really had one.

Umbridge coughed again. But Susan kept working, choosing to ignore the woman. She wouldn't give this woman the satisfaction of turning any word she might say to denigrate any teacher within the school. And especially not about Mrs Evans.

"Miss."

Susan chose again to ignore Umbridge, her feather still writing on the parchment in front of her.

"My dear little girl," Umbridge resumed on her false sweet tone, "I understand that you are very busy, and it is admirable that you would be so zealous at work, but I would greatly appreciate if you could give me a few minutes to answer a few questions. It would be of tremendous help for the Ministry."

Susan stopped writing. "Why?" She looked up to Umbridge. "So you can accuse me of lying? Again?"

Umbridge looked shocked. Perhaps this was the look of disdain and scorn Susan had on her face. Or perhaps the woman just realized who Susan was. After all, Susan wouldn't be surprised if that woman didn't remember immediately who she was. Or perhaps Umbridge hadn't noticed who Susan was because she hadn't seen her face when she first approached. Susan had her hair free right now. As a result, and due to its volume and how it fell on her forehead, Umbridge might not have seen her face nor realized she was talking to the niece of Amelia Bones before Susan looked up at her.

However, Umbridge recovered from her surprise and quickly displayed her usual stupid smile. "Oh. It is you."

She then did something Susan didn't think she did with other students she interrogated. She sat down across Susan and looked at her, still with this smiling expression.

"I believe we have started on the wrong foot, Susan. I can call you Susan, may I?" Susan preferred not, but Umbridge didn't give her time to answer and went on. "I never apologized. For suggesting that you were lying when you testified in front of the Wizengamot. I hope that you will forgive me. Back then, it seemed impossible to me that Dementors could have attacked innocent children in a Muggle street."

"And now? What do you think?" Susan shot without thinking. Umbridge only looked taken aback for a moment before resuming her charming behavior.

"An investigation is underway. We take all investigations very seriously at the Ministry, as your aunt certainly told you herself. This includes the work I am doing right now. As you certainly noticed, I have spent an entire week so far examining the professors of this school to evaluate their performance. But I would like the students' perspective on their teachers. I am sure you would agree to help me."

Susan felt disgusted by the false smile of the woman sitting in front of her. Was she really asking for her help after everything she said during the trial? After she denied any attack of Dementor happened? When everyone knew the sole reason of her presence was to cause trouble for Dumbledore and the people supporting him?

"So you are investigating into our professors?" Susan asked.

"Well, evaluating them is a more appropriate word…"

"Then all I can tell you is that we have excellent teachers at Hogwarts, and I wouldn't exchange any of them for someone else."

Umbridge further smiled falsely. "Thank you very much, but I have a few more specific questions to ask you. First…"

"Do I have to answer your questions? Because this is the year of our O.W.L.s, and I have a lot of work…"

"This will only take a few minutes," Umbridge cut shortly. She had lost some of her false pleasant demeanour. Maybe she didn't like being cut. "First, I heard that Professor Evans showed quite disturbing images during her first lesson. How did you feel when you looked at those images?"

Susan stared straight at Umbridge and hesitated to answer. Something in her encouraged her to give an answer. It wasn't in Susan's habits to refuse answering a question asked by an authority figure. When she was a child and she did something bad, she always ended up telling the truth when her parents asked her. Whether the person was a parent, a professor, someone from the Ministry or even simply an adult, something in Susan always encouraged her to comply when being asked something. But another part of her was so disgusted and opposed to what this woman was trying to do that she resisted the urge to answer with all the fibres of her being.

"Do I really have to answer these questions?" she finally asked.

"Yes, you must," Umbridge said on a very hard tone.

From the look of her eyes, Susan had the impression that something terrible awaited her if she refused to answer.

But what awaited her? Umbridge was the High Inquisitor, with the power to evaluate and even fire teachers, but… What power did she have over students? Susan looked carefully at Dolores Umbridge. The woman clearly expected her to answer. She probably thought that Susan had to answer her. But was it the case?

"What can you do as High Inquisitor?"

Umbridge was taken aback again by the question. "Pardon me?"

"What can you do as High Inquisitor. Because… You see… As I said… This is the year of my O.W.L.s., and I would like to better understand how things work at the Ministry… And you occupy a new function… So I would like to better understand how it works."

Umbridge looked troubled for a time, but then she took her sweet expression again. "Well, as High Inquisitor, I am responsible to evaluate and examine the performance and qualifications of people who occupy a teaching position at Hogwarts. I answer directly to the Minister, Cornelius Fudge, to who I report and who can decide whether or not staff members are fit for their job."

"But… If I understood correctly, there is a committee that decides whether or not teachers must be fired. This is not your decision to make."

For a slight moment, Umbridge's smile vanished. But it returned very quickly. "Indeed. A committee composed of Ministry's employees and the members of the Board of Governors decide whether a teacher can keep his position or not. And they take their decisions based on the reports I deliver to the Minister, and on the recommendations of the Minister himself. And for such reports to help them take a decision, they must be as complete as possible. And to be as complete as possible, I need to include the students' opinions. So I'm asking you again, how did you feel about the images Professor Evans showed you in your lesson of Defence Against the Dark Arts?"

And she had managed to bring them back to the starting point. Susan pursed her lips. Then she answered.

"If you want my honest opinion, Lily Evans Potter is the best professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts we could hope for this year. This is all I have to say. And I don't have time to answer more questions. I have homework to do." She looked at her watch. "And it's getting late. I should head back to my common room."

She began to quickly gather her things as Umbridge was clearly unsatisfied with her answer.

"I understand that you find yourself in a precarious situation, Susan," Umbridge told her. "You began seeing Harry Potter last year, I think. During a ball. He was a champion of the Triwizard Tournament, the most famous boy in the school. You probably felt as the luckiest girl in Hogwarts. I'm sure you believed him when he said that he didn't cheat his way into the Tournament."

Umbridge followed Susan as she stood up and left the library. But Susan refused to reply in any way to her words. Nothing forced her to answer anything Umbridge said. She was High Inquisitor, and her power was only over teachers. She had no authority over Susan.

"But times have changed. The boy is no longer the sort of person someone should be seeing around. Everyone knows he is a liar, and also violent and unstable."

"Harry is not a liar, and he's not violent," Susan shot back. "And he's not unstable. Only frustrated that people like you spend their time telling everywhere that he's lying to get attention. And considering I got the same treatment from you, I quite understand his frustration."

"It is the Ministry's duty to tell the truth to the population, and to assure them they are safe, my child," Dolores sweetly explained.

"No, it is your duty to ensure their safety, not to tell people they are safe when it's not the case."

"Listen, Susan. I'm not here to be your enemy. Your aunt is a very well respected member of the Ministry's staff. She and I both have the ear of the Minister. I'm only trying to tell you that, if you feel forced to do or say anything, or to remain loyal to your boyfriend because Dumbledore is protecting him and his mother is one of your teachers, then you shouldn't be afraid. With only one word, I can get the Minister to arrange everything. And it would make your aunt worry far less if she knew you were on the right side of history."

Susan boiled for the inside. She knew how to recognize a veiled threat. This woman was suggesting that her aunt might be in trouble if Susan remained with Harry.

They had reached the entrance to Hufflepuff's common room. Susan tapped the barrels.

"Think about what I said, Susan," Umbridge went on. "Don't let feelings cloud your judgment. And think about what's best for your family and your future. You want to make a career at the Ministry like your aunt? Being associated with Harry Potter will not help you, nor your parents or your aunt in the long run. Do what is in your best interest, and your family's interest too."

Susan had enough. She turned on herself and stared harshly at Umbridge. "My family was slaughtered by Voldemort." She said the word without thinking, and even she shuddered at her own mention of the name. "So as long as you don't give me proof that Harry is lying, I'm going to believe him. Cedric Diggory is dead, and Harry is the only one who was there and who can tell us how he died. So as long as you cannot prove that it wasn't Barty Crouch Junior who murdered him under… Voldemort's orders, I will not listen to you. Like my aunt says, it's the facts that matter, and you have none. Stop bothering me. You're High Inquisitor, not my professor. You have no authority over me. And I'm way too busy with preparing my O.W.L.s to lose time with someone like you."

And on that, Susan turned her back on Umbridge and walked through the common room back to her dormitory. Some students looked at her on her way. Maybe they had heard her. But she didn't care.

Back in her dormitory, Susan worried. Had she gone too far? Could her aunt suffer from how she just lashed out at Umbridge? Her aunt and parents told her times were difficult at the Ministry of Magic, and that Fudge broke down on anyone openly supporting Dumbledore or the idea that Voldemort was back. What would be the repercussions of her outburst at someone Fudge listened to?

The following morning, Susan had little time to dwell on her argument with Umbridge. She saw Harry in Transfiguration in the morning. Today, Umbridge wasn't there to evaluate McGonagall. This was a relief.

"How was your practice yesterday?" she asked her boyfriend as they sat down next to each other.

"Fine. Angelina sounds more and more like Oliver," he answered. "And you, how was your evening?"

"I crossed path with Umbridge," Susan replied gloomily. "She was spying on us in the library and getting students to criticize teachers. Especially your mother," she warned.

"I guess that's not a surprise. So, what did the others say about her?"

"Lots of things. But I managed to tell Umbridge that your mother was the best professor we could hope for."

"Thank you," he said, very grateful.

Susan smiled back in return, but as McGonagall walked in and the lesson began, she couldn't help but fear that her reaction to Umbridge's insinuations would come back to haunt her, sooner or later.

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I wrote this chapter in large part after my wife and I came back from our honeymoon in Disney World. Please don't be too harsh on me.

Please review.

Next chapter: Amelia