The Empress of Magic

Chapter 100 : Weird Occurrences

Celestia, the night before she was supposed to leave for Hogwarts, could not find sleep.

Every time she closed her eyes, her mind would be filled with flashes of Beasts feasting on the bodies of young children, whose empty eyes seemed to stare directly into her soul, questioning why they were made to face such a horrific end and why nobody had been there to safe them.....

She didn't know what those images meant. If they were flashes of a future that was yet to exist, or memories of ghosts long since passed that wanted to warn her about what the Fates had in mind to make her go through as well....

So, she left her bed, careful to not awaken the little boy clutching desperately onto Chrome, who had given up on escaping his hold long ago and slept the night away with small snores leaving his snout.

Instead of staying in her room, she walked to her office, returning the quiet yet polite greetings of the Healers and Aurors of the night shift, and sometimes stopping whenever her signature for medical transport or certain decision was needed.

Once inside, and behind closed doors, she walked to her desk and let herself sink down onto her chair, a sigh of exhaustion leaving her as her golden eyes moved to stare at the ceiling.

, ........ I wonder how mother did it.......' thought the half-Veela, briefly glancing at the framed picture of Eliza Grindelwald and Aaron Drake that she kept next to the one of Wong, the Ancient One, and herself, on her desk facing her.

Her mother, the woman who countless people aspired to be like or stand next to her. Who was often described as the perfect Lady, and constantly showered in praise for her sense of duty to her family and the people....... Only to one day break apart because she couldn't take it anymore.

Sometimes, when she spotted other teens or even children younger than herself, walking the streets with their parents she wondered what it must have been like to grow up with a loving mother or caring father....

She loved Bellatrix and Rodolphus, she truly couldn't have asked for better godparents, but that didn't erase the fact that her birthmother had died shortly after her birth, or that her birthfather probably didn't want anything to do with her... if he even knew about her existence, that is.....

The witch wondered if her childhood would have been filled with happy memories, of a mother that loved her, and taught her about her future role as queen, while encouraging her to further her talents and a father, that would have stood by her side, patiently explaining things she couldn't quite grasp as of yet, exasperatedly shaking his head at her whenever she brought home another Creature to take care of.....

Bitterness clawed at her heart and a sour taste filled her mouth whenever she thought about what could have been, instead willing her mind to return to the present.

Eliza was one of the most intelligent people of her time, and had a keen sense for politics, something Celestia struggled with greatly........

She didn't have parents who could teach her, the people who raised her focusing on skills that would keep her living for another day, and the other party wanting to expand her mind with as much information as they could to hopefully use her intellect to further their research...

The only reason she had some kind of introduction to it was Tom, who spent several years of her childhood educating her on the basics of politics and general information on the Wizarding World.

Her problem did not lay in the theoretical aspect of things, hypothesis, and the likes of it, but in the practical department.

Had her mother been alive, she would have been able to experience trials and political debates firsthand and be taught by her how to act in certain situations and what to expect...