Catherine's past
Jason looked at the interface and said, "Bind."
[Training system bound to "Jason Todd"]
[Host can check his stats through his status window.]
Jason remembered playing a few RPG games during his time in the manor when he was 10 years old. He knows the game's terminology perfectly.
Jason decided to postpone checking the status window because his mother was looking at him weirdly after he uttered "Bind."
"Uhm.. Sorry. I was thinking something else," lied Jason.
Catherine thought it was weird but decided to ignore it and just nodded.
"Mom, why are we living here instead of in the magic world?" asked Jason.
Catherine took a deep breath and began narrating about her past.
"Everything dates back to the wizarding war before 1980 in Britain. One of the revered 28 magical pureblood families, the Prewett family, was where I came from," said Catherine as she paused.
Jason did remember one detail from the family name. Molly Weasley was originally from the Prewett family. Gideon and Fabian Prewett were two of her brothers who died fighting 5 death eaters.
Catherine continued after a 3-second pause. "I had three cousins, and their names are Gideon, Fabian, and Molly. My cousin's sister, Molly, is the only one who survived the war along with me. While the war was going on, I left Britain and refrained from fighting because I didn't want any part of the ongoing war.
It's not that I am afraid, but Voldemort was too strong, and I also knew the true face behind the old coot, Dumbledore. Though his old and wise face may give the impression that he is a great leader of the Light faction, only I saw the skilled manipulator hiding behind it."
Jason started getting the picture now. In fact, he did question many things in the novel during his previous life, like "Why did the old guy rely too much on the prophecy, which may or may not come to pass? Why did he send James and Lily Potter to Godric's Hollow when Potter Manor had strong defenses and safeguards in place that would have guaranteed their safety and aided in their escape even in the event that defenses were breached?
Why didn't he start searching for the horcruxes after the second year when Tom Riddle's diary came into his possession?"
There were many questions and it all came down to one conclusion to Jason. The old man has similarities with Batman. They both want to give even the most horrible offenders too many opportunities, which results in a great loss of innocent lives.
Batman does many questionable things, like keeping data on the weaknesses of Justice League members for the rogues to steal and b*tch every time a league member commits a mistake, while he doesn't answer when he is in the wrong and justifies his actions.
Dumbledore did a very bad thing by leaving Harry at Dursley's doorstep, where Harry grew up in an abusive environment, so he could mold Harry to become the sacrifice told in the prophecy.
"When I tried to convince my cousins about the true nature of the old man, they instead turned on me, as they have immense faith in Dumbledore. So I decided to protect my own life and escaped from magical Britain using a portkey to France. From there, I brought a portkey to America because MACUSA will not let a dark lord like Voldemort interfere in their country.
I didn't have that much money after coming to the USA. So I had to choose one of the cheaper places to live and also where magical beings least go. The only place I came to know from the American Ministry of Magic Liason department is Gotham. They told me that Magic Ley Lines are pretty weak in Gotham City, and the magical NEXUS in the underground of Gotham is only filled with dark magic," said Catherine.
Jason narrowed his eyes as he remembered the magical community mostly avoiding Gotham. "Why do the magicals avoid Gotham, Mom?" he inquired.
Catherine smiled and brushed Jason's hair. "Many dark rituals have been conducted in this city even before this city has been established. After the city began forming here, crime was at its peak, but only with the emergence of vampires and other dark creatures in 1900's did the dark energies in the NEXUS get balanced, and the crime was down to single digits. The reason is that these creatures absorbed the dark and sinister energies that made civilian lives easy."
Jason began to understand as there were rumors' about the presence of vampires in his universe.
"What happened? Where did the creatures disappear?" asked Jason.
"The reason is the arrival of "Hunters," who targeted magical communities and creatures. They hunted down anything magical. The entire magical community of America had to unite to eliminate the hunters, which came at high cost. Vampires and other dark creatures suffered the most losses, so they decided to depart for Transylvania and Australia. They built their own covens there.
But the side effects occurred afterwards, since the dark energies began affecting people again. One of the historical records details the presence of a demon underground, and the other tells about a warlock cursing Gotham. I don't know how much truth there is to these records, but as a witch, I could sense cursed magical energies, and Gotham is brimming with them," said Catherine.
Jason's eyes widened upon hearing those words. "It makes sense why the city is a shithole. Just as light is important, so is darkness. The secret to making things easier is to find the right balance," Jason thought.
"I came here to Gotham and settled in a crime alley. The only mistake I made was falling in love with Willis Todd. But I don't regret giving birth to you, Jason," said Catherine.
"I wanted to start a normal muggle life to avoid suspicions. Molly and the Order of Phoenix tried to find me many times to bring me back, as I did spot them in Gotham. But I know the British wizarding community and Dumbledore better than most. I came to know that many death eaters were pardoned after they claimed they were under the Imperius curse.
Stupid, they could use the truth serum to identify the truth under a magical oath, and their true colors would have been out."
"Molly wanted her cousin back and death eaters want the bloodtrait families killed. Since I am part of a family of blood traitors, they want me captured even after the war is over. I've joined the Hit Wizard division and learned many fighting skills. I worked for 3 years and left the Aurors office in America.
2 years ago, I was attacked by 4 death eaters during the night, and I killed them all using the Hit Wizard training. One of the death eaters cast a curse on Willis, causing him to turn violent and abusive.
As long as I suffered the abuse, I didn't care, as his memories of the attack were wiped out by the Ministry officials. But when you became the target of his abuse, I decided to end his misery and killed him using a magic poison I created.
I took you away and by converting the magic money I secretly stashed to dollars, I began "Todd Financials."
Jason heard everything she said about her past. He could say his mother was very wise in avoiding the war and becoming stronger away from it. He is aware that during the first wizarding war, the Death Eaters carried out numerous atrocities.
She did things rationally because she was not trained to face off against Voldemort and his minions. He was also feeling his mind clear and there were no whispers of the Lazarus pit. He was able to think properly without the pit.
"What was your profession in the wizarding world, Mom?" asked Jason.
"I worked in the Department of Magical Transportation." replied Catherine.
Now Jason understood how his mother could have escaped the war. She might have prepared a customized portkey in advance to reach France.
"That's enough about my past, Jase. It's time you begin your homeschooling in a week." said Catherine.
"I'll do my best, Mom." said Jason, giving a childish smile.
Catherine smiled and said, "Great. Now let's get you to eat something."
They both went to the dining room, and Jason sat down at the table. He began formulating a plan.
"It's 1988 now. I think I'll get letters from Ilvermory and Hogwarts in 1992. I should not only train my magic but also the martial arts and other techniques from my previous life while also mastering the All Blades. It looks like I'll be busy during these 4 years.
Now its time to check what is up with the training system." said Jason as he opened the status window.